


Foxy

by moonchildthings



Series: The Animagus Chronicles [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-01-04 15:38:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 136,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21200045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonchildthings/pseuds/moonchildthings
Summary: Beauxbaton's biggest prankster has finally been expelled from the French boarding school. Having limited choices, Iris Evans is sent to join her sister at Hogwarts. As she adjusts to the new scenery, Lily's twin makes new friends with a different array of people. Though there was no doubt that she would become friends with the Marauders.[Marauders Era][Sirius Black x Female!OC][First in The Animagus Chronicles][Complete]





	1. New School, Same Ol’ Iris

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the first chapter of my Mauraders Fanfiction, Foxy! Now I hope that you enjoy this story as much as I do while writing it. I have some face claims for the characters of this story just for visual reference if you'd like to know.
> 
> Cast:  
Iris Evans - Rose McGowan  
Lily Evans - Karen Gillian  
Sirius Black - Ben Barnes  
James Potter - Aaron Taylor-Johnson  
Remus Lupin - Andrew Garfield  
Peter Pettigrew - Jamie Bell  
Severus Snape - Louis Garrell  
Lucius Malfoy - Sam Harwood  
Regulus Black - Matthew Bell  
Petunia Evans - Olivia Wilde  
Wendy Hunt - Keke Palmer  
Marlene McKinnon - Maia Mitchell  
Arthur Weasley - Marc Goldfinger  
Octavia Evans - Mila Kunis  
Craig Evans - Noah Wyle

**TWO HEADS OF RED HAIR BOBBED ALONG** the bustling platform as they lugged their oversized trunks behind them. One of the redheads was a girl with short red hair that reached her shoulders. She trudged after the other redhead struggling with her trunk as she pushed against the flow of people around her. Her chocolate brown eyes surveyed all of her surroundings.

The train station was definitely not a normal sight for her, even this many muggles was a weird sight for her to see. The second redhead was a girl with long red hair that reached beyond her shoulders and towards her lower back. Her forest green eyes sparkled with excitement as she dragged her twin sister around. Behind them, three other people tried to keep up with the red-headed twins at their breakneck speeds.

"Slow down, Lil," the redhead with shorter hair whined when she almost dropped her trunk. Her sister, Lily, only glared in reply before ignoring her sister and continuing to speed walk around Kings Cross Station.

Iris sighed as she reluctantly allowed herself to be dragged by her twin. Iris was just as excited as Lily about the two of them starting school together, but she would rather not cause a scene around a large group of muggles.

For the past four years, Iris Evans had been attending Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. She liked going to school at Beauxbatons, living in France for a while was magnificent. But she missed her twin sister Lily a lot. However, it was never her plan to join her at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

Iris is a complete troublemaker, plain and simple. She was always getting into trouble and pranking people. She was considered the Detention Queen at Beauxbatons. No other student had received as many detentions as she did while attending Beauxbatons.

And after one prank that went a little too far, the headmistress decided it was time for Iris to leave. And even though she was upset, Iris was content with the decision. She had a few friends in France that she would miss, but now she'd have more time to spend with Lily and Severus.

Speaking of Severus, Iris made it her life goal to annoy him as much as she could. She constantly teased him and played jokes on him. But everyone knew her jokes and pranks were all in good fun. Her and Severus were like brother and sister, a type of sibling bond where most of the time they could not stand each other, but it was a bond nonetheless.

The three trying to follow the red-headed twins were the rest of the Evans family. Craig Evans was a tall and lean man, a disheveled mop of brown hair sat atop his head. He had light brown eyes that held warmth and joy as he watched his daughters run ahead in excitement.

Octavia Evans was a short woman. Her light brown hair danced around her slightly chubby cheeks. Her hazel eyes watched in amusement as her youngest daughter dragged her twin around a group of people.

Petunia Evans watched in disdain. She didn't want to be here, she didn't have to be. Her lip curled in disgust as her younger sisters seemed to be bursting with happiness. She was the complete opposite of her sisters, instead of a light and bright appearance Petunia's was bitter and spiteful. Her dark brown eyes stared at the set of twins with a glare.

Her cold and hateful attitude was completely dismissed by their parents. She hated how her parents fawned over her younger sisters, there was no need. They were witches, freaks. They didn't deserve this kind of treatment.

The Evans family finally made it passed the other commuters and walked over to a pillar in between platforms nine and ten. Platform 9 3/4. Iris watched as a boy who appeared to be slightly younger than her run at the pillar. But instead of crashing into the brick wall and making a fool of himself, he disappeared. Appearing to have vanished into thin air, either that or the wall just ate him!

"Wow," Iris breathed out in awe. Even though Iris was a witch and had been around a lot of other wizards and witches. The magical world never ceased to amaze her.

Lily looked at her sister and smiled widely, showing off her perfect white teeth. "It's amazing, isn't it?"

Iris could only find herself nodding in agreement. She just wasn't able to find her voice. She didn't have to, however, as her mother came up to the girls and pulled them into a tight hug. "Oh Lily, Iris, we are going to miss you," Octavia gushed.

"Mum," Iris whined. "You'll see us at Christmas. Besides you're always happy to see me go, you don't have to endure my pranks for the rest of the year."

Octavia sighed, but smiled nonetheless and placed her hand on Iris' head. She patted down the girls unruly short red hair before her hand was swatted away by the teen. "We'll miss you no matter what," Octavia smiled lovingly before turning to Lily, "and you too Lily, just make sure you're sister stays out of trouble."

Iris huffed crossing her arms in irritation, they all know she's going to get into trouble, no matter what her parents said. "Don't worry, Mum. I can look after her," Lily said pulling Iris into her side and smiling brightly. Craig chuckled pulling both of his daughters in for a hug.

"No pranking, Iris. There aren't many other schools we can send you too if you get expelled again." He laughed kissing the top of her head and doing the same to Lily. Iris shook her head before pulling away from her father and sticking her tongue out at him before smirking.

"I make no promises."

Both Octavia and Craig shared a look with each other. They loved Iris dearly, there was no way for them not to. But they were slightly disappointed that she had been expelled from Beauxbatons. To their knowledge, there weren't many other wizarding schools for her to attend. And their worst nightmare was that she'd be expelled from every school and not be able to graduate. But she only had two years left. There was no way she could get expelled from every school in a year or two, could she?

"Come on, we won't be able to get a compartment at this rate," Lily complained.

A small black kitten walked towards the group. It was small, it had to be the smallest kitten in London. Trotting its way towards the group it rubbed up against Octavia and Craig's legs, purring in delight. It hissed at Petunia, who scowled at it. And it finally walked over to its owner, Iris. "There you are!" Iris picked up the small kitten and stroked its fur, "I was wondering where you got to."

The kitten, Shadow, purred and brushed his head up against Iris' hand. "Right, we've got everything now. Let's go." Lily exclaimed before dragging her twin over towards the pillar. Their family waved goodbye to them, minus Petunia who continued to sulk. Iris took a deep breath before glancing at Lily.

Lily smiled at her twin before running towards the pillar and disappearing into the cream-colored wall. Iris smirked before running after her sister. As soon as she ran through the wall her surroundings changed drastically. The bleak and dreary settings of Kings Cross changed into a bright and exciting platform. No normal, boring muggles were running around carrying suitcases and traveling for work.

Instead, young children ran around with each other laughing and enjoying themselves. They chased after their pets and hurried to try and get onto the train. And in front of her, in all its glory, was the Hogwarts express. It was a gigantic, magnificent train. The red and black engine was completely amazing, and Iris had to admit it was much better than the pegasus drawn carriage she rode to get to Beauxbatons. At least in her opinion.

"Iris this is so amazing that we're going to the same school," Lily gushed breaking Iris out of her daze. Still gobsmacked Iris could only nod her head in amazement. "Come on, we need to get on the train," Lily said as she dragged Iris towards the train.

* * *

The twins quickly put their trunks away and made their way onto the train. They walked along the hallway and looked into each compartment trying to find an empty one or find Severus. Each compartment was nearly full to the brim with excited students ready to start the new year. After finally finding an empty compartment, Iris sighed before plopping herself down onto the seat and getting comfy.

"How long is the train ride? Long? Cause I want to take a nap." Iris said as she slumped down in her seat and draped her arm over her eyes.

"It's a few hours, but we should be leaving in a few minutes," Lily said standing in the doorway of the compartment. "I think Severus should be on the train already, I'm going to go look for him." Iris hummed in acknowledgment and uncovered her eyes.

"Find him and tell him to get his arse in here, I've been waiting to see that twat for a while now." Iris chuckled to herself, "I got a few new ideas that I want to… test on him."

Lily glared at Iris, "don't get on his bad side already, school hasn't even started yet."

Iris laughed, "exactly, which means I have all year to mess with him. This is going to be the best year ever."

Lily scoffed, "I hope you do not meet Potter. If you do, I don't think I could handle going to school here anymore." Iris wasn't listening, she was starting to doze off already and the warm, fuzzy fur ball already sleeping on her lap was lulling her to sleep.

Lily left soon after noticing that Iris had started to fall asleep. She started walking down the hallway to look for Severus or even one of her other friends so she could introduce them to her sister. A group of three boys the same age as her, walked up from the other end. One boy had messy brown hair that could be seen over the top of the book he had his head in. His warm chocolate brown eyes sweeping over the pages of the book. Scars littered his face and gave him an intimidating appearance, but anyone who knows him knows that he could barely intimidate a Hufflepuff.

One of the other boys also had brown hair, it swept off his forehead and over the rim of his round glasses. The glasses encased his bright blue eyes that held mischief and trouble. He walked along the hallway like he owned the place, arrogance obvious in his demeanor. The final boy had shaggy black hair, just like the last boy he had an air of arrogance surrounding him, he didn't seem to have a humble bone in his body. His light grey eyes were full of trouble, no doubt about it.

These were the boy's Lily dreaded her sister meeting. Remus Lupin, James Potter and Sirius Black. She knew that there were two possibilities that could happen if and when they met. One; Iris would become best friends with them and cause havoc around Hogwarts. Or two; they would hate each other. Iris' stubborn personality could clash with James' and Sirius', and all hell would break loose. Lily didn't want to imagine what could ensue if that were to happen, she wasn't sure what would happen. However, her fears would be tested as the group of rambunctious boys were headed to the same compartment where Iris was taking a small nap.

The two of the three boys laughed together as they joked about. The third boy still had his head stuck in his book. Once he got to the door he opened it up, but he noticed that someone was already in the compartment. Remus froze in his spot as he stared at the girl with wide eyes. The girl appeared to be the same age as him and his friends, though he wasn't sure who she was. Her breath was shallow and she looked peaceful as she was sleeping with a small black kitten on her lap.

"What are you standing there for, Moony? Just sit down," James said as he walked over to see why his friend had stopped. And once he did his eyebrows furrowed. A red-headed girl was laying in their compartment, asleep. And for a moment he thought that it was his one true love, Lily Evan who had fallen asleep in this compartment. But he was able to tell that it wasn't his Lily, her hair was obviously shorter and she had a slimmer face than Lily. "Who is that?"

Sirius popped up from behind the two boys and stared into the compartment to find out what was keeping them from entering. "What's wrong with you two?" But once he saw the girl laying in their compartment he stopped in his tracks. He stared at her, she was no one he had seen before. A new student perhaps. She was gorgeous, and she reminded him of Evans. Sirius smirked, "now isn't this interesting." He pushed past his friends and walked into the compartment to examine the beautiful girl closer.

"Who is she?" James asked as he and Remus entered the compartment. Remus shrugged his shoulders before taking the seat across from the sleeping girl.

"She could be a new student, but she looks like she's our age," Remus said, James nodded his head and took the seat next to the sleeping girl.

"I don't care who she is, she's gorgeous," Sirius sighed taking the seat next to Remus.

"You say that about every girl you see," James chuckled. Sirius shrugged his shoulders before laughing, his laugh sounding like a bark. And because of that Iris bean to stir from her nap. The boys cringed slightly realizing that the girl was now waking up, but now they'll at least get to know who the girl is.

Iris woke up and let out a small grunt, she heard talking. Hushed whispers, she suspected to be Lily and Severus and maybe a few of their friends. But when she opened her eyes instead of seeing her sister and Severus, she saw three boys. The one across from her had scars on his face and a book held in his hands. The boy next to him had long black hair that reached his shoulders. And next to her was a boy with glasses. "Who the hell are you and why did you wake me up?" Iris muttered scratching her head.

"Feisty, I like that," Sirius said with a wink. Iris rolled her eyes as she petted the annoyed kitten in her lap.

"I ask again, who are you? And why did you wake me up?" Her tone was deadly calm.

"Sorry, we just came in to sit, all the other compartments were full," Remus spoke up.

"Still didn't answer my question." Iris sighed giving up on the fact that she won't be able to take a nap now. Though she should at least get to know them, it would be good for her to make some friends now.

"Sorry, I'm Remus Lupin," The boy across from Iris said reaching his hand out for her to shake. Iris smiled at his polite gesture and shook his hand.

"Nice meeting you, Remus," Iris said before turning to the other boys. "What about you two?"

"You're not going to tell us your name first, love?" The shaggy-haired boy asked with a smirk.

Iris smirked back as her eyes sparkled with mischief, "you've gotta earn that, darling."

Sirius laughed, he was liking this girl already, "I'm Sirius Black, you can call me handsome."

"Sirius is fine, thanks, darling."

Sirius chuckled, "have I earned your name yet, love?"

Iris sighed, pretending to be in thought. "I suppose so…" Iris said before smiling flirtatiously and reaching her hand out for his. As soon as the two of their hands touched a spark crawled up their arms. Iris tried to ignore the feeling and cleared her throat. Sirius also ignored the feeling and quickly let go of her hand, even though he wanted to keep holding it. Though he had no idea why he wanted to. "Name's Iris Evans."

All the boys stared wide-eyed at Iris, Evans? As in Lily Evans?

"Evans?" James squeaked.

Iris nodded her head, "yes, I suppose you know my sister, Lily."

The three boys stared at her in astonishment and glanced at each other. Sister? Lily never mentioned she had a sister besides Petunia. But they should have guessed she was related to Lily. Iris is just as feisty as Lily and they look similar too. "Know her? He's in love with your sister." Sirius snickered as he pointed to the boy sitting next to Iris.

Iris raised her eyebrows looking at the bewildered boy next to her, "really?"

James cleared his throat and stuck out his hand for Iris. He had to make a good impression with her, she is, after all, the love of his life's sister. One wrong move and who knows how good of a chance he had with Lily. "Right, sorry I didn't introduce myself properly. I'm James, James Potter. Brilliant, handsome and the perfect boyfriend for your sister."

Iris raised a brow and nodded her head slowly, "yes I think I've heard her talk about you." She said as she shook the arrogant boy's hand.

James' expression brightened, "she has!?" He ruffled his unruly hair and smirked as his eye twinkled with confidence, "I mean, why wouldn't she?"

"Yes, she's talked about the arrogant toe-rag who bothers her every minute of every day." Iris smirked, "she never seems to shut up about you." James laughed after hearing her say that.

"Really!? You hear that Padfoot?" He asked looking at Sirius, "I told you Lily was falling for me."

Sirius smiled brightly at his friend, "good on you, Prongs."

"So, Iris," Remus said gaining the redheads' attention. "Why haven't we seen you before?"

Iris sighed, "I transferred to Hogwarts this year, I was expelled from Beauxbatons last year." She explained with a shrug of her shoulders

"Expelled? What did you do?" James exclaimed with interest.

Iris laughed lightly at James' excitement, "I might have pulled a prank on the headmistress at the end of the year, she didn't like it one bit." The boys glanced at each other before looking back at Iris. "That and I think they took into account the number of detentions I had."

Sirius stared at the girl, his body leaning forward to look at her closer. "How many detentions did you have?"

"Lost count," Iris instantly answered with a shrug.

"You like to prank?" James asked with curiosity. If his future sister-in-law likes pranking like he does, he is going to love being apart of the Evans family even more than he already is.

"Course, ever since I found out about Zonko's when I was eleven, I've been pranking everyone I can," Iris smirked. Sirius gawked at the girl, he could feel his heartbeat race. Not only was this girl gorgeous, but she was just as troublesome as he is.

He was going to love getting to know her better.

Suddenly the compartment door opened, all of their heads turned to see that Lily Evans stood in the doorway. And once she saw that the Marauders were in the same compartment as her twin, her eyes widened. She internally groaned, as did the boy next to her. Now his tormentors were friends with one of his best friends, who also liked to torment him. This school year was starting off on a terrible note.

"Oh, no," Lily groaned.

"Lily!" James exclaimed and smirked towards her. Lily rolled her eyes as she glared at her sister. In return, Iris did nothing but smirk back.

"Look Lil, Sev, I've made a few friends," Iris said smugly seeing Lily's eyes filled with fear.

"I should have seen this coming," Lily rubbed her temples in frustration. Severus stood next to Lily awkwardly not really knowing what he should do.

"Nice to see you too, Evans," Sirius said as he smirked.

"We'll find another compartment," Lily said quickly turning on her heels to leave.

"Sorry Lil, see you later!" Iris yelled after her sister. She then looked at Severus with a smile, "I'll see you later too, Sev. It'll be great getting to talk with you." Iris smiled.

Severus gave a small smile, "yeah, see you, Iris," Severus squeaked before quickly following after Lily.

"You're friends with that greasy snake?" Sirius bitterly questioned as he watched Severus scurry away.

Iris glared at Sirius, "problem with that?"

"No, not at all," Sirius said quickly before scoffing. "I'm only wondering what a gorgeous girl like you would want to do with a Slytherin."

Iris glared at him, "and I'm starting to wonder why a gorgeous girl like me is talking to a hot-headed Gryffindor like you." Remus and James snickered as they saw the gobsmacked look on Sirius' face. "What? First time a girl's spoken to you like that?"

Sirius cleared his throat, "most of the time girls tend to fall head over heels for me, Love." He boasted running his hand through his shaggy black hair.

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not like those sorts of girls." James and Remus continued to look between the two as they continued to banter. It was like watching a Quidditch match. No girl, besides Lily, had talked to Sirius like this. And they were enjoying it. They could tell that Sirius was going to fall for her, and he was going to fall hard for Iris Evans.

Sirius smirked flirtatiously leaning forward, "you're right, you are far more beautiful than any of those other girls."

Iris scoffed at his lame attempt of a flirt, "Is that your attempt at seducing me?" Iris asked with a smirk as she leaned forward as well, the two teens faces becoming increasingly closer. And for the first time ever, Remus and James saw Sirius blush. The player, Sirius Black, who dated girls left and right was blushing! They've seen the impossible now. "You're going to have to try harder than that, darling."

Iris leaned back, satisfied with the flustered look on Sirius' face and started to pet Shadow in her lap. Sirius stared at Iris, his mouth almost falling open. Never had a girl had this sort of effect on him. It was always the other way around. There was a first for everything.

"Don't mind them, they can be idiots most of the time," Remus dismissed as Sirius tried to collect himself. James was still snickering to himself in his seat. Sirius glared at his best friend before kicking James' feet and earned a yelp from the boy. Iris giggled, she was definitely going to like being friends with these boys.

* * *

The rest of the train ride was full of laughter and friendly banter. Along with Sirius' shameless flirting. Iris became closer to the three boys. She even learned that they had another friend named Peter Pettigrew, though, they had no idea where he was. They suspected that he was somewhere eating sweets.

And even though Iris and Sirius continued to talk with each other, Iris found him to be unbearable. He was a shameless flirt, egotistical and in no way humble. She found his personality to be irritating, the only reason she could really find herself to keep talking to him was that he was quite handsome. He was not wrong about that aspect of himself.

The train had come to a slow stop, they had finally arrived at Hogwarts. Butterflies erupted in Iris' stomach as they made their way off the train. Her nerves were at her highest, though she wasn't about to admit that to anyone.

"I'll see you guys later," Iris said goodbye to the boys before she made her way down to the boats where the first years were boarding the boats. In the boat in front of them all sat a large man. His face was nearly completely consumed by his brown beard and his black eyes were lost in his hair.

"Come on first years!" He yelled in a deep and gravelly voice. Iris made her way down to the boats and stood next to the boat that held the large man. "Ah, you must be the transfer student," Hagrid's deep voice boomed.

Despite his intimidating demeanor, Iris could tell he was nothing but a lovable giant. "That's me, sir, all the boats are full, I just wondering if I could sit in your boat."

Hagrid laughed joyfully, "oh! Why didn't you say? Hop in, mind you, it might be a tight fit."

Iris smiled before jumping into the boat with the giant, and soon they set off on the lake. "You're Hagrid, right?" Iris asked the man.

He nodded his head, "that's me, I suppose your sister told ya."

Iris' eyebrows raised, "you know Lily?"

Hagrid's gravelly laugh met Iris' ears, "course I do. She's one of the greatest witches of 'er year." Iris nodded her head, she was told that Lily was at the top of their year. Always the know-it-all she was, but that's what Iris loved about her sister. Even in the Muggle world, before they found out they were witches, Lily knew just about everything in every one of their muggle classes. Plus Iris could always go to Lily for advice about certain spells and potions she made for pranks.

"That's my sister!"

* * *

The boats soon came to be in front of the castle. The large castle looming above the few dozen boats glided across the Black Lake. Iris sat in amazement as she stared up at the castle. Hogwarts was far larger than Beauxbatons. Iris used to say that Beauxbatons had one of the greatest castles she had ever seen, but she is eating her words now.

The group of boats soon approached the shore and began to dock. The students then started to unload on the docks. Iris being one of the first people along with Hagrid. "Come on, first years!" Hagrid's booming voice said silencing the eleven-year-olds chatter. Hagrid grabbed his lantern from his boat and beckoned the students to follow him up the small incline to the front of the castle. "Professor McGonagall," Hagrid greeted a woman as soon as they got to the large wooden doors.

The woman looked over the group of children. Her eyebrows seemed to be permanently furrowed and her lips stretched into a thin line. The intimidating aura that surrounded her silenced the first years immediately. All of them starting to fidgid nervously under her intense stare. Including Iris, her glare was harsher than Madame Maximes. Iris could tell that she was a strict, rigid woman who probably won't take any silliness. Iris smirked, she had a tingling feeling that she was going to be well acquainted with Professor McGonagall.

"The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses." Professor McGonagall started looking at each face of first years and spoke in a stern, strong voice. "The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room."

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Once professor McGonagall finished her speech the first years became even more nervous than they were before. Iris coughed slightly and willed herself to not look so nervous. Her hands started to play with the ends of her sweater vest. She couldn't be nervous, Iris Even was never one to be nervous, besides a few exceptions. But this was not one of them.

The group was then lead in through the enormous doors of the castle and lead to the great hall entrance. Iris took a deep breath as they waited even longer to enter the hall, where all of the other students waited. The first years talked quietly amongst themselves about what they would have to do get sorted into the different houses. Which left Iris alone, seeing as she was the oldest there.

Soon, after a few minutes of waiting, the doors to the Great Hall had finally opened. All of the students gasped before falling into line behind each other. The group of new students walked into the Great Hall, marveling at the candles that floated in the air above them. The ceiling showed the starry night sky, the inky blackness decorated with the white little stars and floating candles.

Iris starred in awe of the amazing hall. Banners of each house hung above four large tables where other students waited for the sorting to end. The table on the far right had a yellow banner with a badger on it, the Hufflepuffs. Each student had a yellow tie and the table was surrounded by an air of shyness, Iris noticed. Lily and Severus had told her that Hufflepuffs tended to be quiet and reserved, never really talking to other students outside of their house.

The next table on the right had a blue banner above it with what looked like an eagle in the crest. Iris was told that Ravenclaws were highly intelligent, basically a house full of know-it-alls. And by that description, Iris was confused as to why Lily wasn't a Ravenclaw. She was the biggest know-it-all that anyone could meet, in Iris' opinion.

The table on the far left had a green banner with a snake in the middle of it. Each student who sat there glared at the passing first years, obviously trying to seem intimidating. Each had a permanent scowl on each of their faces, their pale and sickly slim faces. One of the faces was familiar to Iris. Smiling slightly she waved subtly to Severus Snape who sat next to two of his peers. One is a boy, extremely pale with platinum blonde hair. Another being a boy with black hair that was slick back tightly. The corner of Severus' lips turned up slightly as he nodded his head in acknowledgment. The other two boys glaring at Iris as she passed, only for her to wink in their direction before continuing on.

The last table on the left, closest to Iris, was the Gryffindor table. The red and gold colors that adorned the table proudly displayed their house and the lion on the crest seemed to pop to life. Sitting at the table was Iris' new friends, Remus, James and Sirius. Along with their other friend, Peter Pettigrew. Iris could tell that he was a short and pudgy boy, who obviously likes to eat sweets. To Iris, he also had a rat-like look to him. The other three boys waved animatedly at Iris, drawing more attention to the redhead. She rolled her eyes before waving back slightly.

Iris would have no problem being in Gryffindor with her sister and the Marauders. They were great to be around, and she knew they were going to become great friends. Though she wouldn't have a problem being in Slytherin, Lily had always said that she was quite sneaky and a perfect fit for Slytherin. Besides, Severus was in Slytherin, she wouldn't be completely alone. Iris could also spend more time messing with Severus.

A little bit further down the table was Lily. The two sisters flashed each other with identical smiles. Iris winked at her and smirked before heading to wait in the group of eleven-year-olds. Lily shook her head as one of her best friends nudged her in the side. "Who's that?" Wendy Hunt asked.

Lily rolled her eyes as she saw her sister make silly faces at the Marauders who were sitting a few seats away from her and her friends, "my sister."

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat as she stood in front of the group of new students. A stool was sitting to her left and a wrinkly, old hat was seated on it. What were they going to do with an old hat? Iris had thought. "Fletcher Thaddeus," she announced. A small boy meekly walked forward, obviously hesitant for the sorting but he reluctantly walked over to the stool.

Professor McGonagall took the hat and placed it on Fletcher's head. The ancient hat was obviously too big for his head as it slumped down and into his face. The wrinkly hat moved slightly, revealing a mouth and two eyes. The students all waited patiently as the hat seemed to be muttering to itself. "Hufflepuff!" The hat suddenly exclaimed after a few minutes of deciding. The Hufflepuff table erupted in applause as Fletcher scurried his way to his seat at the Hufflepuff table.

The process continued, more first years were sorted into each of their houses. Iris anxiously waited for her name to be called. However, because she was a transfer student she was going to be last. Her hands started to become sweaty with anticipation as she rocked back and forth on her heels. And soon enough, Professor McGonagall called her name. Although this time her voice was lighter and kinder than before, Iris noticed.

"Iris Evans."

Iris took a deep breath before strutting her way up to the stool. Trying to keep her nerves hidden on the inside, Iris smirked. Ignoring the whispers from other students, Iris made her way to the stool and sat down. Once the hat was placed on top of her head she heard the hat started to mutter to itself. "Hm… another Evans I see, hopefully, you are as well behaved as your sister."

Iris snickered to herself before whispering back, "I promise nothing."

The hat ignored her remark and hummed to itself. "Despite your loyalty, you do not have the patience to be a Hufflepuff. You are very intelligent, you would do well in Ravenclaw. But you are cunning, sneaking and ambitious, the traits of a Slytherin. You are also brave, courageous and very reckless, a true Gryffindor inside and out." The hat assessed. Iris crossed her fingers and hoped for Gryffindor, "must be…"


	2. Nighttime Shenanigans

**"MUST BE… GRYFFINDOR!" THE HAT FINALLY ANNOUNCED** after a moment of deliberation. The Gryffindor table erupted in an uproar of applause. Iris smiled, hopped off the stool and sashayed her way to the Gryffindor table.

Bursting with excitement, Lily launched herself at her sister once Iris sat down next to her. "Oh, Iris!" Lily cooed as she squeezed her twin into a tight hug.

Iris struggled in her sisters grasp and gasped out. "Lily, can't breath," Iris said as her face started to turn as red as her hair. Lily quickly let go but kept her within arm's length.

"I'm just so excited, not only are we in the same school again. But we're in the same house!" Lily gushed pulling Iris in for another hug. Iris squeaked as she tried to fight against Lily's hold, but Lily was far stronger than Iris. It was always like that. It wasn't that Iris was weak, Lily was just extremely strong, especially this excited.

"Welcome," Headmaster Dumbledore's voice boomed over all of the students, silencing them all. "I welcome back returning students and welcome incoming students." His eyes swept over each student and observed the new ones as well, his eye lingering on Iris. Not that she noticed though, she was too busy looking around the Great Hall with large eyes.

"I hope that this year will be just as magical as the last. However, I have a few announcements to make. In no circumstance shall a student enter the forbidden forest. I fear if you do, you will face a horrendous death." That statement caught Iris' attention, "I must also insist that each student obeys the curfew. Otherwise disobeying can be punishable with detention with our own, Mr. Filch." Dumbledore said gesturing to a man who stood in the far corner of the room. With slick grey hair, pale eyes and yellowing teeth he sneered at the stares he got from others. At his feet, a brown, black and white tabby cat sat licking its lips. "Now, let's eat," Dumbledore announced. Suddenly, food appeared on the plates in front of all the students.

Iris quickly started to pile her plate high with an assortment of delicious foods. However, before she could dig into the foods she had chosen, she was tapped on the shoulder. Turning to her right, Iris came face to face with a girl her age. Dark brown curls framed her face, chocolate brown eyes gleamed with happiness as she stuck her hand out towards Iris.

"My name's Marlene McKinnon," The girl, now named Marlene, said with a warm smile. Iris returned it and shook the brunette's hand with a smile.

"Iris Evans," she introduced herself.

"You're Lily's sister, right? She told us that you were coming this year over the summer." Marlene said as she too started to pick out food from the platers in front of them.

"I know, she constantly got owls over the summer. I barely got any sleep because of her constant giggling at night." Iris complained as she stuffed some food into her mouth. Her eyes widened as she moaned in delight. "This is great!"

"If you think that's great," an arrogant voice said as the girls in front of Iris were pushed down the bench to make room for four boys. "Then you'll definitely like desert," Sirius flirted as he sat in front of Iris. Said girl rolled her eyes.

"Eh, I don't like sweets that much," Iris dismissed smirking. She leaned forward with her head resting on her hand and her elbow on the table. "What else did you have in mind, darling." Lily nudged Iris in the ribs and raised a questioning brow at her sister. "What?" Iris asked slyly as she leaned back in her seat and tried to ignore Lily as she rolled her eyes. However, she didn't ignore the fact that Sirius started to become flustered, she relished in his embarrassment.

"We only came over here to welcome you to Gryffindor, Iris," James said as he took some food off of Lily's plate. As a result, Lily swatted his hand away.

"That wasn't the only reason, James wanted to come see Lily as well," Remus chuckled.

"Shut it Moony, Sirius wanted to see Iris too," James muttered stuffing his mouth with his stolen roll of bread.

Sirius cleared his throat, "we all came over to welcome you to Gryffindor, that's all."

"Hmm, I'm sure," Iris said as she turned to the fourth boy who sat furthest away from her. "You're Peter I presume," The boy in question nodded his head meekly. Iris smiled warmly, seeing that the boy was shy and hesitant to speak. "Well, nice to meet you, I'm Iris," she smirked, "but you probably already know that."

"You sound as arrogant as Potter," an African-American girl said to Iris. Iris raised a brow as she leaned forward so she could see past Lily to the girl.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Depends on who you ask."

"Iris, this is Wendy Hunt. Wendy, this is my sister Iris," Lily introduced the two girls. Iris nodded her head before reaching across Lily to shake the other girl's hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, dear," Wendy said with a warm and inviting smile.

"Same here," Iris smiled before turning back to the food. "Now, time for more food!"

* * *

Once the feast was over, and all the students were full of food they all headed to their dorms. Iris followed her sister and her new friends up to the Gryffindor tower. They walked up the confusing, always changing staircases and made it to the portrait with the fat lady.

"Geez, I'm going to get lost while trying to get to class," Iris complained as they walked through the portrait and into the Gryffindor common room. The vibrant, warm colors decorated the common room and greeted the students who were ready for bed. Around the room, eager and tired students sat in the chairs and spoke animatedly with each other about the new year.

"Don't worry, we'll help you find your way around the castle," Marlene dismissed as she hopped onto one of the unoccupied couches. "Most of us got lost on our first day here, it's nothing to worry about."

"Well, she'll have us to show her around," Wendy commented. "But I suggest we go to bed, early morning tomorrow. And I don't want to be late to the first breakfast this year, again." She glared at Marlene harshly. Said girl raised her hands in mock surrender and chuckled.

"It isn't my fault someone kept me up all night," Marlene said before clearing her throat. "James Potter is one of the most inferable boys ever I have ever met." She said in a squeaky high voice, obviously trying to mimic Lily's voice. Lily glared at Marlene and huffed with her arms crossed.

"Is that suppose to be my voice? Because that definitely didn't sound like me," she snapped.

Iris laughed lightly, "I don't know Lil, it sounded pretty close." Lily glared at Iris before launching herself at Iris and tried to catch her. But Iris slithered out of her grasp and ran to the other side of the room with Lily right behind her. The girl laughed as they watched Lily try, and fail, to catch her twin around the room.

When the girls calmed down, and Lily finally caught Iris and proceeded to hit her a few times, they all went up to their shared dorm. "Here, Iris, this is your bed," Lily said as she pointed to the bed beside her, which was right next to the window. Outside the window showed a view of the black lake, it's murky waters shining in the moonlight.

"Yeah, and the bathrooms over there," Marlene yawned as she pointed to a door that was on the other side of the room. "I'm changing first," She quickly gathered her clothes before stumbling her way into the bathroom as fast as she could. Wendy raced after her and complained that she always took the longest. Iris hopped onto her bed and sat with her legs underneath her. Shadow, Iris' midnight black kitten, trotted into the room and leisurely made his way onto Iris bed with one leap. Iris scooped the kitten up and cuddled him in her lap.

"We really should go to bed," Lily commented as she pulled out some pajamas from her trunk. She then poked Iris in her side. Iris squirmed and tried to get away from her sister, "you too, I don't want to have to force you out of bed in the morning."

Iris rolled her eyes, "yes, mum. Don't worry about me, I'm tired myself." She yawned.

The girls soon started to get ready for bed. Putting on pajamas, brushing hair and setting out their uniforms for the school day tomorrow. All the girl's chatter died down as they all settled into their beds and soon enough soft sores filled the room. Iris laid on her side away from the other girls in her dorm. She wasn't asleep. And she wouldn't be for the next couple of hours.

After determining that everyone was asleep, Iris quietly got out of her bed. Shadow, knowing that Iris was causing some trouble, also jumped off of her bed and followed her. Staying as silent as she could, Iris rummaged through a few of her belongings and finally found a small box of sweets. Snickering to herself she stood back up and made her way out of the dorm with her black kitten following after.

But in her moment of mischief, Iris did not notice her sister was no longer asleep. Lily cleared her throat, "where are you going?" Iris cringed, of course, Lily was awake. She probably knew that Iris was going to do something tonight. Iris closed her eyes and turned around to be met with the annoyed glare of her twin.

"Hey, Lil," Iris whispered sheepishly as she held the box of sweets behind her back. Lily tilted her head as a way of saying 'explain', "ah, you must be wondering what I'm doing."

"Yes, you're right," Lily said before snidely adding, "for once."

Iris placed a hand over her heart, "for once? Lil, sister dearest, I'm hurt."

"What are you doing, Iris?" Lily questioned harshly, obviously irritated. She could be getting sleep right now, or maybe even studying from her new books for her classes. But no, she has to make sure that her sister doesn't end up blowing up the school or something. Which has happened before.

"Nothing," Iris said unconvincingly as she tried to think of an excuse. "I just couldn't sleep is all."

"Iris, you better no-" Lily started to say as her voice rose slightly. But the twins froze as Marlene stirred in her sleep, mumbling incoherent words before settling back down in her bed. Lily sighed and glared at Iris, upset that she couldn't yell at her right now. "Downstairs, now." She commanded in a soft tight voice before passing Iris and marched her way down the stairs and into the common room.

Iris cringed again, she glanced down at the kitten at her feet who rubbed against her legs. "I'm in trouble aren't I, Shadow?" He only meowed in reply and purred softly in a way to say, 'yes'. Iris sighed before she followed after Lily and down into the common room. She made sure to try and hide the box of her sweets behind her back the best she could.

Once she started to get closer to the bottom of the stairs, Iris could hear a few additional voices. She recognized Lily's voice right away, and she could recognize James' voice as well. It sounded like they were arguing with each other. Then a third voice spoke up, Remus. Then a fourth voice commented on what they were saying, Peter. And finally Sirius Black had opened his big mouth to say something, but before he could he saw that Iris was at the bottom of the staircase. His eyes grew wide as he ran a hand through his messy black hair. He wasn't entirely sure, but as soon as he saw her he became nervous.

He smirked the best he could to mask his nervous feeling and turned to Iris who watched him with amusement dancing in her brown eyes. "Look at who it is," he confidently said causing the others to turn to Iris. "Couldn't stay away from me could you?"

Iris smirked, "'fraid not, my bed's a tad bit cold." She smiled flirtatiously towards him, almost forgetting that they weren't alone. "Mind helping me… heat it up?" She slyly asked. James coughed loudly in surprise, whatever he and Lily had been arguing about was long forgotten about. Sirius stood with his mouth agape as he stared at the girl in front of him.

"What are you doing down here?" Remus coughed as he tried to let Sirius compose himself. Remus was also surprised by what Iris had said, but he was the first able to recover fast enough to change the topic.

Feigning innocence, Iris blinked her long eyelashes, "me?" She did her best to act clueless, "I could ask you the same question."

"And we asked you first!" James exclaimed once he finally regained his wits.

"I just couldn't sleep… I'm just so excited for school!" Iris tried to explain, even though Lily could see through her lie.

"Really? Since when have you been excited for school?" Lily asked bored and crossed her arms over her chest, "what's behind your back?"

Iris furrowed her eyebrows, "behind my back? Uh, nothing!"

Lily looked at Iris with an irritated look, was Iris really going to start to play this game this late at night. "Yes, behind your back, I saw a box in your hands."

"It's just a box," Iris tried to explain while she walked closer to the group. But Lily could tell that she was itching to get out of the room. "There's nothing in it."

"You say nothing, and yet I'm still suspicious."

Three out of the four boys watched the girls converse with each other. They dreaded seeing Lily's temper, and they knew that if she yelled she would probably wake up the entire tower. And if Lily had a horrendous temper, they couldn't imagine what Iris was like. They even paled at the thought of the two of their tempers pinned against each other. They really needed to get out of there before things got worse.

Not paying attention to the bickering between the twins, the shaggy-haired boy was still gobsmacked by what Iris had said ages ago. But he couldn't help but think he'd take her up on her offer. "And you have every right to be suspicious," Iris said before quickly adding, "but you can trust me! I'm not doing anything bad, I swear!"

"Then what where you going to do with an empty box?" Peter asked confused.

James' eyes sparkled with excitement, "are you going to prank someone!?"

Iris shook her head vigorously trying to convince them that she wasn't going to go prank anyone. Even though that's exactly what she was going to do. "No! I promised Dad that I wouldn't," Iris said confidently. But her confidence deflated when Lily spoke up,

"Actually, you said, and I quote, 'I make no promises'," Lily said as she tried to mimic Iris' voice.

Iris' jaw clenched before she spitefully spoke.

"Is that suppose to be my voice? Because that definitely didn't sound like me." Iris quoted Lily from earlier in the night and also mimicked her voice. Lily glared at the satisfied look on Iris' face, and she was just about ready to pounce on her. But before she could, Remus tried to defuse the situation.

"Why don't we all just go to bed, we do have school tomorrow morning," Remus suggested sheepishly. Peter nodded his head to as he saw Lily was starting to become even more agitated. And Iris' innocent act was only making Lily's temper worse.

"Yeah," Peter squeaked and agreed with Remus. "We don't want to be late for class tomorrow!" He dashed past the girls and headed up the stair towards the boy's dormitories without a good night. He did not want to be in the room when either Lily or Iris exploded.

"See, Wormtail has the right idea," Remus said as he sheepishly made his way towards the stairs. "Night Lily, Iris," He bid the girls goodnight before disappearing up the stairs. Now there were only four teens left in the room.

"Looks like it's only us," James said as he came to stand next to Lily. Trying to be smooth, James tried to place his arm around her shoulders. However, Lily was faster and pushed his arm away and turned her glare onto him. He yelped as he backed away from her. He might love this girl with all of his being, but he had to admit she can be scary. "Ha, I guess I should get going too." He turned to Iris as he started to back up towards the stairs, "see you tomorrow, Iris."

"Night, Potter."

"See you in your dreams, Lily," he said flirtatiously. Lily glared at him and started to march towards the stairs too. James yelped in terror as he turned to scurry up the stairs. Lily rolled her eyes as she turned to Iris with a tired look.

"Go to bed, Iris," Lily sighed as she turned to Sirius, who still hadn't said anything. "Stop her if she tries to leave," Lily ordered Sirius before disappearing up the stairs. Now only Iris and Sirius remained.

It was quiet in the common room, the only sound that was heard was the crackling of the wood from the fireplace. Iris sighed as she rolled her eyes. Couldn't Lily let her have her fun? Iris just wants to let Hogwarts know that they have a new prankster in their midsts.

"Are you going to do what Lily said?" Sirius broke Iris out of her thoughts, "I have a feeling that you aren't."

Iris smiled towards him and strutted her way to stand in front of him, "you've known me for a short time, yet you seem to know so much about me." Iris laughed lightly, "I won't tell Lily if you don't," Iris said hopefully.

Sirius smirked, "I don't know, you might have to convince me, love."

Iris raised an eyebrow, "and do tell, darling." Iris sighed, "how can I do that."

Sirius smirked as he leaned down to be level with Iris. On the inside he was flustered, the two of them were extremely close. And one wrong move would end up with his lips on hers. Though he wouldn't complain about that. Iris was also slightly embarrassed, her breath had hitched ever so slightly. But she was able to hide it easily as Sirius was able to hide his embarrassment. "Why don't you let me help you… heat up your bed."

Iris' mind went blank as she stared at the boy in front of her. How was she supposed to respond to that? Should she respond to that? She had no idea whether or not he was serious about that. Though she had a nagging voice in the back of her head saying, 'Merlin, yes'.

Sirius stared at Iris with a calculating look. Did he say something wrong? Of course, he did. What sane person would say that to someone they've just met? Was she going to yell at him? Never talk to him again? But then again why should he care? She was just some girl, she was just like all the other girls here at Hogwarts.

No, that's wrong. She wasn't like the other girls here. She was different, she's new, and Sirius want to know just how different she is. No, he needs to know. Sirius opened his mouth to apologize for what he had said, but before he could utter a word Iris laughed lightly.

"Egear to take me up on my offer are you, darling?"

Sirius calmed down on the inside, though his stomach was still doing flips. She thought it was a joke. She hadn't taken it seriously. Sirius could only thank Merlin that she wasn't weirded out by him and didn't want to run away after his comment. He was grateful that he hadn't just lost the chance to get to know Iris Evans.

"I suppose so, love," Sirius said confidently as he tried to hide his anxiety. "I just can't miss the opportunity to spend the night with a beautiful girl like you."

Iris laughed again, "let me go and I'll reward you another time, darling." She tried to walk past him but was stopped when he wrapped an arm around her waist from behind. Her eyes widened as she had an instinct to try and squirm her way out of his arms. She felt flustered and slightly uncomfortable in this position, she felt her face begin to heat up. But his hold wasn't harsh or possessive. His hold was gentle and his hand barely touch her body with only a feather-like touch, as if he was afraid of how she would react. And he was.

"Now, as much as I'd enjoy that, I'd rather not be killed by your sister."

Iris cleared her throat and willed her flaming cheeks to cool down as she turned around to face him, yet she was still trapped in his arms. "Come on, Sirius, please?" Her big brown eyes stared up at Sirius with a pleading look.

Normally, Sirius would be able to say no, but staring into her enormous chocolate colored eyes caused him to falter. How could he say no to Iris? Especially when she says she'll reward him. How did this girl have such an effect on him? He's only known her a few hours, for Merlin sake!

"I won't tattle," Sirius whispered with a smirk. Iris smiled brightly, leaned up and kissed Sirius on the cheek. Enjoying the burst of red that blossomed on Sirius' cheeks, Iris winked at him and turned around to walk towards the exit of the common room.

"Sweet dreams, darling."

Sirius smiled stupidly, "oh sweet dreams indeed." His smile then faltered as his eyes widened, "what the bloody hell is happening to me."

* * *

Iris walked the halls of Hogwarts as she held the box of her own creations tightly. Shadow walked alongside her and inspected every object he had never seen before. Iris mentally laughed as she imaged what tomorrow morning was going to be like. She thought that this was the greatest way to start the new year. The first prank on the entire school. Using her own creations she made over the summer.

There were four different types of sweets that she had in her box. The first is puking pasties, and just as the name suggests whoever eats it will puke. The second is dye toffees, whoever ends up eating these will end up with a different color hair and eyes. Just image, someone with neon orange eyes and dark green hair! The third is voice sweets, (Iris still had no idea about what to call them.) and they are her favorite. When someone ate it one of two things would happen, either their accent would change or their entire language would change. And no matter how hard they tried, people would not be able to understand them. And lastly, the fourth sweet is switching cremes. (And once again, Iris is not very good at coming up with names.) If two people were to eat the cremes at the same time, they would end up switching clothing or switch voices. But if the recipient of the sweets is unlucky, then both of these reactions would happen.

Either way, it was bloody brilliant! Iris could only imagine the chaos that would ensue in the morning. It was going to be, as stated before, bloody brilliant. Iris was a genius when it came to concocting different pranks. Whether it be making up a spell, a potion, or little trick, Iris was a master. It was like she was born for pranking.

Now all she had to do was find the kitchens, however, that was easier said than done. Wandering around the halls aimlessly, she was looking for any sign of the kitchens, but she found nothing. It felt like she had been walking around for hours, and her feet were starting to throb. She was tired, cold and about ready to give up and head back to her dorm.

But before she could decide whether or not she should head back to the Gryffindor tower, Shadow hissed. His hair stood straight on his back that was arched towards the sky. Iris turned around to see what Shadow was looking at.

A sheepish house elf stood in the middle of the corridor with wide eyes. The pans it had been holding clattered to the ground. Iris cringed at the sound and tried to calm down the elf. "Hey, hey, it's okay," she rushed out as she approached the elf. The elf wore what looked like a faded pink pillowcase as a dress and it had enormous, round baby blue eyes. "Don't yell or anything, I'm just looking for the kitchens," Iris said in a calm voice.

The elf stared at Iris with a curious look, "miss is looking for the kitchens?" The elf then muttered to itself for a moment before looking back at Iris with her wide eyes. "Mitzy can show miss to the kitchens, if miss is hungry, Mitzy can cook for miss."

Iris smiled kindly at the house elf, now named Mitzy, and kneeled down to her height. "I just want to bring some sweets to the kitchen for tomorrow's breakfast." Iris explained, Mitzy tilted her head in confusion, "I just want to give everyone a little… uh, welcome present of sorts." Iris said sheepishly.

Mitzy nodded her head as she smiled brightly, and even though her teeth were slightly crooked, she looked adorable. "Mitzy will help miss, come on." Mitzy started to lead Iris down the hallway Iris had just come from. Iris huffed, of course, she was going the complete opposite way.

The trio walked in the halls for only a few minutes before they stood in front of a portrait of assorted fruits and trees. "This is the kitchens?" Iris asked confused. Mitzy nodded her head and reached her small hands to the pears in the picture. She tickled them and, surprisingly, they giggled. The portrait swung open and on the other side was a gigantic kitchen.

House elves scurried around the kitchen working together to make breakfast for the morning. Mitzy shuffled over to Iris and reached the box that Iris held. "Mitzy can take the sweets from you and give them to the other students for breakfast tomorrow."

Iris smiled warmly and handed the box to Mitzy, "thank you Mitzy, and you can just call me Iris. Not miss."

"Okay, miss Iris," Mitzy beamed happily and ran over to the kitchens and inspected each of the sweets. Iris shook her head and sighed. Because it was late and she was quite sleepy, Iris decided that she should head back to the common room.

"Thanks for your help Mitzy," Iris said as she weaved her way through the many house-elves that worked tirelessly to cook. And a hand full of them did not appreciate the witch slowing down their late-night routine. "Just don't tell them that it was me," Iris said slyly as she kneeled down to Mitzy's height.

Mitzy tilted her head in confusion before nodding her head. "Okay miss Iris, Mitzy won't tell. It will be a surprise!"

Iris smiled kindly and nodded her head in gratitude. "Good night, Mitzy," Iris tiredly stood up and headed for the portrait hole.

"Goodbye, Miss Iris, come back soon!" Mitzy shouted excitedly over the other bustling house elves who were desperate to finish their work. Iris made her way out of the kitchen, the black kitten trailing behind her at a lazy trot.

* * *

Iris trudged along the corridors of her new school. She yawned as she tried her best to stay awake, but her eyes constantly threatened to close. She wished that this damn castle was smaller then she might be able to get to her bed faster. From the pitch black sky outside, Iris guessed that it was midnight. At a time like this, she would usually be in bed, asleep and dreaming of sweets or pranking Severus.

But no, she had to prank the entire school! She mentally groaned. Her effort will be worth it though. This spectacular prank will let the entire school know that she's the newest prankster in this castle. And she wasn't going anywhere.

The corridors were eerily quiet. A quiet that chilled Iris to the bone, and now she was chastising herself for not wearing a sweater. Iris wrapped her arms around herself and tried to trap in as much heat as she could against her body. This strategy barely worked, but it at least kept her fingers and arms warm.

She was almost to the Gryffindor tower, and just a few minutes away from jumping into her comfy and warm bed. However, as she rounded the corner towards the tower she halted in her steps. She had run into someone. Annoyed, Iris huffed at turned to the person with a glare. "Watch where you're going!"

Iris' glare softens however and was replaced with a flame of mischief. In front of her stood her good friend, if not brother-figure, Severus Snape. "I-Iris? What are you doing here?"

Iris smirked and crossed her arms over her chest, "I could ask you the same, Severus."

Severus gulped, "I couldn't sleep, a-and I wanted to walk around the castle."

Iris' eyes narrowed as she saw Severus twitch and fidget under her stare. Iris hummed, "okay," she drawled out and put her arm around Severus' shoulders. "If that's true, then why are you all the way up here, by the Gryffindor tower?"

Her questions sent a shocked shiver up his spine as he became even more nervous. What if she found out? What if she already knew? Either way, she was going to kill him. "I-I just kept walking around, a-and I didn't realize I was up here. Besides, I think w-we should head back to our dorms." He tried to divert the conversation and convince Iris to just let it go. And there was a huge chance that she would just leave him alone and go to sleep. Seeing as she only ever ate, slept and pranked. At least, that's what Severus thought that's all she ever does.

Iris yawned, proving Severus' theory, and scratched the back of her head. "I suppose you're right, Sev." Iris coughed slightly in embarrassment, "but we should hang out sometime."

Severus smiled. Iris never really liked to say it out loud, but she enjoyed hanging out with Severus, and he knew that. He also knew that Iris was too arrogant to even disclose the fact that she had other emotions besides mischief and anger. There weren't any other people that she showed affection to besides her sister and her parents. She just wasn't a person who was good at dealing with her own feelings. But he knew that she always got a kick out of playing around with other's feelings.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Severus said softly.

Iris yawned and nodded her head with a lazy smirk. "Right, well, it's now the ungodly hours of the morning so if you'll excuse me," Iris said as she picked her black kitten up from the ground and he buried himself into her chest.

She patted Severus on the shoulder and started to walk the way that he came from. "Good night, Iris." He called out to her after she passed him. In reply, Iris waved over her shoulder lazily before disappearing around the corner. Severus sighed in relief. He could only thank Merlin that she was too tired to interrogate him about why he was really up there. He gulped and placed his hands in his pocket and held the small glass vile.

* * *

Iris walking into the common room with Shadow now asleep in her arms. She trudged her way towards the stairs in the common room to her dorm. But an obnoxious snore stopped her in her tracks as she nearly jumped out of her skin. Her startled and wide eyes stared at the lump that laid on the couch.

Iris tilted her head in confusion as she couldn't figure out who that was. Shadow wormed his way out of her arms and meows softly before strutting his way up the stairs to the dorms. Iris ignored her black kitten and tiptoed her way over to stand in front of the couch.

Once she saw the messy mop of black hair she knew that it was Sirius Black who laid on the couch. Iris' eyebrows furrowed, why was he down here? Considering how late it was, Iris suspected he would be up in his own dorm by now.

Why had he stayed down here?

The only explanation she could really come up with was that he fell asleep by accident after she left. (Iris dismissed even the thought that he had stayed down here to wait for her.) She tiptoed on the fluffy, soft carpet to stand in front of the plush couch where the teenage boys slept soundly.

Iris thought he looked so peaceful sleeping there as he snored lightly. She smirked and pulled out her wand and wracked her brain for a certain spell to use against Sirius.

"Aguamenti," she muttered and started to laugh uncontrollably as a jet of water spewed out of the tip of her wand. Sirius jumped, startled, and tried to scurry away from the frigid water that was pointed at him. He jumped over the back of the couch to escape the icy water. Once he climbed over the back of the couch, Iris couldn't help herself but fall on the ground and laugh nonstop.

Sirius caught his breath after being woken up unpleasantly. He heard laughter from the other side of the couch, obviously the person who decided to rudely wake him up. Scowling, Sirius quickly sat up and was about ready to shout at the idiot who decided to prank him. He suspected it to be James, Remus or Peter who came down to get him. He knew he ended up falling asleep on the common room couch waiting for Iris to come back, and he didn't appreciate being woken up like this.

He poked his head up from behind the couch and was prepared to hex whoever decided it was a good idea to use Aguamenti, a water charm, on him. But once he finally saw who it was he froze and tried to compose himself to the best of his ability.

"Rise and shine, Black," Iris giggled as soon as she saw his head of shoulder-length black hair popped up from behind the couch. "I trust you had a restful sleep."

Sirius glared at his new friend and ruffled his hair as he stood up. He tried his best to brush back his hair to appear to be tidy as the girl in front of him glowed in amusement. Despite it being at his own expense, he quite enjoyed seeing her like that. He would gladly do anything to keep that wide, blinding smile on her face all the time. Yes, her smile is pretty, the way her eyes crinkled in joy is adorable and her laugh sounded like a song that he would listen to on repeat. Merlin, what is wrong with him! No girl has ever affected him like this! He shook his head as he released his thoughts had wandered to a strange place. "I did thank you for asking," he rolled his eyes, "but I could have gone without the rude awakening."

Iris tried her best to suppress the giggles that tried to crawl out from her throat. "Sorry, Darling," She strolled over to him with long sensual strides and quickly muttered a hot-air charm to dry Sirius off. "You were just so vulnerable, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity."

Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy hair and flashed a lazy smirk. "I suppose we should head to our dorms. Or perhaps," he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him once she was close enough as he tried to flash his most charming smile. "You'd like to come to mine."

Iris giggled nervously at the close proximity of the black haired boy. She is so lucky that she's capable of hiding the blush that tickled her cheeks. "To repay you for letting me leave?" Iris tapped her chin and pretended to be in thought. "I don't know, I'm kind of tired, and I'd rather have more privacy than you're dorm room."

Sirius chuckled and yawned, "I guess I'm tired too."

"Well then, goodnight Black." Iris pecked Sirius' cheek and pried herself away from his arms. She felt completely uncomfortable in his arms like this. It was far too intimate for Iris. She thought that she could handle him holding her before especially when he couldn't see her blushing. But when she was in his arms she could feel her insides melt, it was something she had never felt before. And she wasn't sure if she liked it.

"Yeah, goodnight, Iris," he sighed dreamily as he watched her strut her way up the stairs. He coughed as he realized that after a few minutes he was still staring at where she had disappeared. He racked his brain for an explanation on why he could be acting this way around Iris, but he came up empty-handed.

Sirius quickly made his way up to his shared dorm with the other marauders. And once he opened the door to the dorm, he found his three friends sitting on his bed. "And look at who it is, so how lucky did you get with my future sister-in-law?" James arrogantly asked from his bed which was right next to Sirius', where Remus and Peter now sat.

"Huh?"

The three boys glanced at each other and simultaneously rolled their eyes. "Really, Sirius?" Remus snorted, "we thought the two of you had gone off and found someplace to shag." The boys all chuckled as they teased Sirius. Said boy scowled lightly as he tried his best to hide his embarrassment as he walked over to his bed and pushed Remus and Peter off of it.

"As much as I would have enjoyed that, the both of us were quite tired."

James scoffed, "that's never stopped you before."

Sirius huffed and crossed his arms, "why are you so adamant about me shagging your 'future sister-in-law'?"

James shrugged his shoulder with a smirk, "we all know you were undressing her with your eyes since you first met her. Which was only a few hours ago, mind you."

The boys chuckled at Sirius' expense. Sirius huffed and ripped off his shirt in frustration as he got ready for bed. He was irritated with his friends as they were constantly teasing him about Iris. He knew that she wasn't like any other girl he has encountered and she affects him far differently than the other girls he has dated. He does not like the fact that they decided to use that to their advantage.

"Like I said I'm tired, so go to bed," Sirius scowled and climbed into his bed. Doing as told, the three other Marauders scurried into their beds and had bid each other good night.

* * *

In the girl's tower, Iris quietly tiptoed through the maze of sleeping girls and climbed into her bed. Shadow was already curled up at the foot of her bed and sleeping soundly. Iris quickly got under her covers and sighed as the warm, velvety covers engulfed her frigid body.

She stared up at the ceiling as she tried her best to fall asleep. Despite the fact that her eyelids dropped down, she wasn't able to fall asleep. A weird sensation bubbled in her stomach and caused her whole body to feel jittery.

She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew that she had been feeling it ever since she was with Sirius. It irritated her slightly. This strange feeling was what was causing her to turn restlessly in her bed. She had to find out what exactly it was because she was clueless. Maybe she should ask Lily about it.

Laying on her side, she stared out the window that presented the beautiful castle grounds. She could see the mysterious, murky waters of the Black Lake, faintly see the outline of creepy figures that walked along the treeline of the forbidden forest and mythical creatures that flew in the trees. Everything she could see begged for her to explore it. Smiling slightly, Iris allowed sleep to suffocate her as she dreamed of schemes and plans that she would definitely use on her new peers and friends. No one was safe from her brutal pranks.

She was definitely going to enjoy her time here at Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Iris is definitely going to have fun at Hogwarts, I can tell you that. I have a big idea for this story, I just hope that you will like it.


	3. A Chaotic Breakfast

**THE NEXT MORNING ALL OF THE GIRLS **in the dorm woke up in a timely manner. However, like Marlene, some of the girls had a harder time getting up than others. Lily was fully awake, dressed in her uniform, hair brushed thoroughly and books held in her hands she was ready for the first day of school.

Unlike her twin, Iris was still curled up in her bed. Her short ruby hair was in knots, drool dribbled down her chin and her body was strewn across her bed with the covers nearly on the floor. Lily scowled when she noticed the state of her sister. They had to head to the Great Hall in only a few minutes so that they could eat, get their schedules and find their classes for this year. And Lily did not want to be late in the slightest.

Though, Lily should have seen this happening. With the fact that she knows that Iris stayed up quite late and that she isn't a morning person, she should have expected Iris not to be ready yet. And she had the perfect way to wake up her twin.

During the summer, Iris spent most of her time scheming, pranking, eating and sleeping. And whenever she did sleep it was till noon, which pissed Lily off a lot. Since Lily is a morning person and loved to do many different activities during the summertime, she always planned to do them with Iris. And the only way to do that was to wake up Iris, which was a tough job.

Lily could swear that Iris could sleep through an earthquake and not even stir. But there was one way that Lily always knew how to wake up Iris. Of course, she only found out about it once they found out they were witches, but it works perfectly.

Lily grabbed her wand and walked over to stand at the foot of Iris' bed. Wendy and Marlene watched Lily stalk her way to her twins bed like a lion. Each shared a glance with each other as they realized what Lily was going to do. They knew all too well about how Lily likes to wake up people in the morning. Both of them and the other girls in their dorm have been recipients of the treatment in the past. Some more than others.

Lily stared down at her sister with a sinister smile. Despite Iris annoying Lily by not being ready, she loved waking Iris up this way. Iris continued to snore as she dreamed of all the adventures that she would have now that she was attending Hogwarts. However, as she was in the middle of her dream about pranking Severus, she felt a coldness consuming her entire body.

She gasped as she was jolted by a stream of water hitting her face and entire body. She struggled in her bed as she tried to get away from the stream of cold water. Her struggles didn't help her situation as she only ended up falling to the ground in a mess of limbs and wet blankets.

"Good morning, sister dearest," Iris heard her twin say sweetly. She uncovered herself from the soaked blankets and glared up at her smirking sister.

"I hate you."

Lily only giggled, "just get ready, we have to go to the Great Hall in five minutes, and I am not waiting for you." Iris huffed and brushed her wet hair from her face.

In the background, Wendy and Marlene tried to keep their laughter to a minimum as they watched Iris pull at her clingy clothes. Iris turned her irritated glare on the two and sneered slightly. They could tell that she definitely was not a morning person. After a few moments, they ran out of the room once they saw Iris had noticed them about to die of laughter.

Iris stood up and stretched her stiff limbs before heading into the bathroom. But once she finally got into the bathroom and saw her disheveled appearance in the mirror she remembered what she had done last night. The sleepy look in her eyes disappeared and was replaced with mischief and excitement. A smile crawled onto her face as she started to pull a brush through her unruly hair.

"Why do you look so happy?"

Iris turned to see Lily standing in the doorway of the bathroom. Lily's eyes suspiciously rake over her twin. _What is Iris up to?_ She wondered.

Iris shrugged her shoulders as she started to get a few items for her shower. "I just have a good feeling about today is all."

Lily's eyebrows scrunched up as she watched her sister head over to the showers with a bounce in her step. She watched nervously. Whenever Iris was having a good day, someone else was bound to be having a bad day at her expense.

* * *

Wendy and Marlene giggled as they hung onto each other and tried to walk down the narrow stone staircase to the common room. Their suppressed laughter could be heard in the common room itself and a few other students watched as the two girls stumbled their way in. The Marauders watched as the pair finally bursted into full-on laughter. Their faces were maroon as they gasped for breath as if they were underwater.

The boys exchanged confused looks as they watched the girls try to regain their breath. The girls had finally sobered up and calmed down enough to walk straight. Except for Marlene, who kept letting a few giggles slip from her lips.

"Why do you think they're so bubbly?" James asked as they watched to two girls sit together at a table in the corner.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders, "no clue."

"Maybe it has something to do with Iris…?" Peter voiced his hypothesis softly.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it does," Remus scoffed and stuffed his face back into the muggle book he was reading before he was interrupted.

Soon enough, said girl came bounding down the stairs and into the common room with a bright smile. Despite it being the first day of school, she was extremely excited about what was to come during breakfast. She wishes she had her mother's camera to take pictures of it. Perhaps she could find someone in the castle with one.

She saw the Marauders sitting on the couch and chairs in front of the fireplace. She wasn't surprised to find that Remus has his nose stuck in a book (one that Iris actually knew, surprisingly), James and Sirius bickering with each other like siblings and Peter appeared to be quite clueless to what he should be doing. But she noticed that he was fidgeting quite a bit. _He must just be a fidgety person,_ she thought. She hadn't known the boy long, only a day in fact, and she could only think that he was usually like that.

Hopping her way into the common room, Iris plopped herself down on the couch in between Remus and James. "Good morning, boys," she greeted them enthusiastically.

"Morning Iris," Remus hummed as he looked up from his book momentarily before stuffing his face back into it.

"Morning," Peter squeaked causing Iris to smile brightly towards them.

James turned away from Sirius, ending their bickering, and turned to drape an arm over Iris' shoulders. "Good morning, Miss. Evans. You seem very chipper this beautiful morning."

"Yes, very chipper," Sirius mocked James' posh voice as he jumped over to push Remus off of the couch so he could sit on Iris' other side and earned a heated glare. "I could only guess it's because you get to see the most handsome wizard in Hogwarts," Sirius ran a hand through his hair arrogantly with a smirk. Everyone rolled their eyes, and Iris smirked.

"Yes, that is exactly why I'm excited," Iris declared and watched as Sirius' grey eyes widened as he thought she was referring to him. She quickly moved to help Remus up before pushing him to sit on the couch where she previously was. Remus, breathless at the sudden movement, squealed as Iris jumped into his arms and sat on his lap. "So Remus, how are you this wonderful morning?"

Flustered, Remus stuttered with his words, "w-well, f-f-fine, Iris." He stared at her startled as he now focused on the girl sitting in his lap, his book now forgotten about. Iris fluttered her eyelashes at Remus and stared at him as if he was the most interesting person she'd ever met.

Iris giggled girlishly and fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously, "that's really cool, Remus."

"Okay, okay, we get it. You two can stop now!" Sirius grumbled as he pulled Iris off of Remus and instead into his own lap. His face was slightly red in annoyance as he grumbled under his breath about 'a stupid wolf'. Iris' eyebrows furrowed when she heard him mutter that, but she brushed it off as one of the nicknames the boys have for each other.

"Now as much as I'm enjoying watching you two fight over Iris-" James started.

"We're not-"

James cut Remus off, "but I'd much rather be enjoying a wonderful breakfast with my true love."

"Your true love…?" Iris wondered out loud as the four boys turned to look at her, "you mean Sirius?"

She started to laugh hysterically and had to wrap her arms around Sirius' neck to stop herself from falling onto the ground. Sirius flushed crimson as Iris buried her face into his shoulder and Remus and Peter started to laugh too. Sirius' eyebrows furrowed in slight irritation. Not only were his friends annoying him, but so was Iris. But Merlin, did he love seeing her smile. And her laugh, he could listen to her laugh on repeat.

"What are you lot laughing about?" Lily asked as she descended the stairs from the dorms. She stared with a questioning brow raised as she saw the Marauders (minus Sirius and James) and her sister laughing as if they had heard the funniest joke ever. She also stared at the fact that Iris was hanging onto Sirius' neck, sitting in his lap and her head is buried into his shoulder.

"Ah, Lily. You look ravishing as ever," James flirted as he beckoned her over. "It looks like there aren't any open seats," he patted his lap, "you can sit here."

Lily scoffed as she rolled her eyes and didn't even walk in his direction as she strutted her way over to the table where Wendy and Marlene were. "That was a very lame attempt of a flirt, Potter," Iris stated.

James rolled his eyes, "like you could do better."

Iris smirked with a mischievous glint in her chocolate eyes, "oh, don't challenge me, Potter."

James leaned forward, "I'm challenging you, Evans. I don't think you know anything about flirting."

"After what she just did to Remus?" Peter questioned quietly.

Iris raised a questioning eyebrow with a smirk, "I suppose I just have to prove myself even more." She turned to look at Sirius with large eyes, "you hear that Sirius? James doesn't think I can flirt." She played with his tie and bit her bottom lip. Sirius stared at her with wide eyes as he tried his best to ignore the effect she had on him. "Do you want to help me prove him wrong?" She innocently ran her hand up and down his chest lightly. Each light touch from her gentle fingers set a trail of fire in their wake across his chest. His breath hitched as he sat frozen in his spot.

The other boys watched with surprise painting each of their faces. They knew that Iris was definitely a flirt, but they didn't think they'd see it to this extent. And to have this effect of Sirius Black… "Alright we get it, Iris," Remus commented as he shifted uncomfortably next to the pair.

"Really, because I think Sirius was enjoying that," Iris laughed lightly.

Lily appeared behind the group and pulled Iris off of a flustered and embarrassed Sirius. "Time to head down for breakfast, Iris. We need to get our times tables."

"But Lily," Iris whined like a child as Lily started to drag her towards the portrait hole. "I don't want to go to classes."

Lily huffed but didn't stop pulling Iris out of the common room as Wendy and Marlene followed. "And I don't care."

* * *

Lily was finally able to pull Iris down a few flights of stairs (with Wendy and Marlene's help) til Iris stopped fighting her and walked to the Great Hall. They soon arrived at the Great Hall on time and sat at the Gryffindor table to eat their breakfast.

"Oh, they have french toast!" Iris squealed and plopped down into a seat before beginning to pile her plate with toast.

Wendy grimaced slightly as she sat down in front of Iris. She had to admit that Iris' stomach appeared to be a bottomless pit, and she's barely known the girl a few days. "Slow down, Iris. You're going to choke."

Iris rolled her eyes as she shoved another piece of french toast into her mouth and said sarcastically, "_Yes, mum._"

"You would think being in France for a long time you'd be sick of french toast," Marlene commented as she sat next to Iris. Copying her new friend, Marlene started to shove as much food as she could onto her own plate and began to scarf down what she could.

Iris hummed in thought as she momentarily stopped eating (to the relief of Wendy, who really thought she was going to choke.). She swallowed the mouthful she had, "not really, come to think of it, they didn't serve french toast at meals in Beauxbatons." Shrugging, Iris continued to scarf down her food to the dismay of both Wendy and Lily.

The girls continued to banter lightly with each other for a few more minutes as the Great Hall started to fill up with more students. Iris watched eagerly as she spotted a few of her trick sweets sitting on a few platters. Untouched, the sweets waited for someone to take a bite out of it. She didn't even notice the Marauders finally enter the Great Hall because of how enticed she was with her sweets.

"You know, you could just eat the sweets and not stare at them longingly," James teased Iris as he sat down next to Lily (to her dismay).

"Hmm? Oh, no. I've already eaten too much," Iris dismissed.

"Has Hell frozen over!?" Lily exclaimed earning a glare from her twin. "I've never heard you say that before," Lily chuckled as Iris' new friends snickered with each other. Iris' eye twitched in irritation as she huffed.

"Well, if you're not going to eat them," Sirius shrugged as he grabbed a few for himself, and the other boys followed after. Iris watched impatiently as she waited for the boys to finally eat her treats.

"They look pretty good," Lily squealed as she picked up one of the sweets. Iris' eyes widened, she didn't want Lily to eat them! It may have been interesting to see Lily with purple hair, or boys clothes, or speaking a different language, but Iris wanted to live more than anything. And Lily would have killed Iris if she was pranked, on the first day too.

She quickly grabbed Lily's hand and stopped her from even touching one of the sweets. The girls looked at her with confused and puzzled looks. "Don't," Iris whispered as she pointed to the boys who were now starting to actually eat the sweets.

They stared at Iris with furrowed eyebrows, and then her eyes narrowed to slits, "why? What did you do?"

Iris' eyes twinkled with mischief as a smirk graced her light pink lips, "just watch." Her vague reply caused Lily's eyes to cautiously stare at her sister's face with worry.

Screams and yelps soon started to fill the air as people started to eat the trick treats. People's hair started to change colors, people started to switch clothes and people's voices were altered drastically.

The room erupted into chaos, just like Iris imagined. She smiled widely as she saw what havoc she was causing. She was immensely proud that her prank worked perfectly.

"Oh, my Godric!" Marlene exclaimed as she watched everyone start to run about the Great Hall in a panic. Iris howled in laughter and had to hold onto Marlene to stop herself from falling onto the ground. The group of girls watched as people ran about trying to get themselves fixed. Girls held out their hair for inspection and found that their once long beautify blonde or brown hair had changed into vibrant, unnatural colors. They all looked like circus clowns. People quickly tried to run out of the Great Hall before they started to be sick all over the place. Some weren't that lucky. And people had a hard time communicating because they suddenly spoke another language.

"Iris!" Lily yelled in a stern voice, but she couldn't help but let a small smile creep onto her pale lips. She had to admit, it was a decent prank. Her sister only looked back at her with a wide smirk and bright brown eyes that nearly blinded Lily with mischief.

She winked at her and laughed gleefully, "admit it, Lil. This is brilliant!"

"Bloody hell!" They heard Sirius exclaim, but once they turned around to the group of boys, they found that it wasn't Sirius who had yelled. Instead, James stared at Sirius with wide eyes as he found that his voice wasn't his own.

Sirius stared back at him with the same amount of surprise. "Prongs? Why do you sound like me!?"

James stared at him with just as much confusion as they heard James' voice when Sirius spoke. Remus sat next to Sirius and looked from one beyond confused boy to the other. He hadn't the faintest idea of what was happening, but if it had to do with the sweets, he was afraid to find out what had happened to him.

"What's going on!?" He exclaimed. Relief flooded him once he found that his voice hadn't changed, but it soon was drained from his body as Iris laughed hysterically while pointing at him. What was wrong!?

The rest of his friends turned to him and joined Iris in laughing, he still had no idea why. He wasn't able to see the fact that his once chestnut brown hair had suddenly changed into a bright neon blue and his eyes were a dark purple. He still stared at them with confusion and worry swimming in his abnormally colored eyes.

"What? What's wrong?"

He didn't get a reply as his two friends continued to laugh, their laughter sounding strange to them because they weren't their own voice.

Gibberish soon sprouted out of the last member of the Marauders. Peter starred in terror at his friends as he heard his own voice was speaking in a different language. He spoke frantically and had no idea what was happening. Honestly, if he hadn't of started to panic out loud, everyone else would have forgotten about him. Poor Peter.

"I must admit," Wendy commented in surprise, "this was actually quite a good prank, Iris."

The boys head snapped in the girl's direction. Their eyes settling on the hysterical redhead who nodded her head in agreement. "You did this?" James asked with amazement.

"Don't be so surprised, Potter," Iris said after sobering up from her giggles.

"I didn't think that you had it in you, love," Sirius said with a large smile. Godric, Sirius was falling hard for this girl, and he's only known her for a day!

Iris smirked and winked at him, "I suppose you know not to underestimate me in the future, darling."

* * *

Breakfast in the great hall soon ended and after the chaos, Iris' prank people were finally getting turned back to normal. People's hair had been changed back to their normal color, voices were restored to the right people, students changed clothes and people were finally able to speak the right language.

After somehow it slipped that Iris was behind it, she was promptly given detention by her head of house, Professor McGonagall. However, as they were leaving the great hall to head to their classes, Iris didn't miss the smile the headmaster had flashed her way as his eye twinkled with amusement.

The group gossiped with each other as they made their way towards the dungeons. The girls had potions with Professor Slughorn first. They scurried into the seats and waited for Slughorn to finally arrive. Lily had to be front and center so that she could see the Professor properly and clearly, like the good student she was. Iris would have rather sat in the back of the class, but seeing as Lily was in her class, she was forced to sit up front with her.

Iris had shivered once she had stepped foot into the potion classroom. "Why is the potions room in the dungeons?" She asked as she sat behind Lily in the second row next to Marlene. Lily turned to her sister and shrugged her shoulders.

"It just is."

Iris hummed in thought, potions wasn't in the dungeons at Beauxbatons. She guessed it was just a Hogwarts thing.

"It's so the snakes can feel right at home," a careless voice said from behind Iris. She turned around to see that Sirius and James had decided to sit behind them. "Don't want them to feel homesick."

"Ha." Iris said lamely, "very funny, Sirius. You must be the funniest wizard I've ever met."

Sirius smirked and ran a hand through his hair while smirking, "and the most handsome."

"Good morning, class," Professor Slughorn's voice halted their conversation and greeted his students as he came into the classroom carrying a variety of books. Everyone in the class reciprocated the greeting in monotone voices. The only one who seemed to be excited about this class was, of course, Lily. "Ah, I hope you are all excited about his coming year, I know I am."

The class stared at him with bored expressions. (Except for Lily, again.) Iris pursed her lips and stared at her new potions professor. She thought he is a very chirpy and enthusiastic teacher. He is obviously very ecstatic about his subject, unlike his students. Even though Iris wasn't as enthused about this class as her sister, she knew that this class was going to be easy for her. Seeing as she was top of her potions class at Beauxbatons, she was going to have no problem with this class. Which means more time messing about with potions for future pranks.

Professor Slughorn continued to speak excitedly about what he would be teaching about this year, but Iris couldn't find the will to listen to the man. She absentmindedly doodled on her parchment and paid no mind to her Professor.

"-and Ms. Iris Evans with Mr. Black." Professor Slughorn's light and airy voice brought Iris back to reality as her head popped up at the sound of her name. She didn't do anything!

She stared dumbfounded as a few people began to move around the room and sat in new seats. Wendy stood up from her seat next to Lily and moved somewhere else while Remus replaced her.

"Good luck, Iris," Marlene muttered to her as she collected her quills and stood from her seat.

Iris' eyebrows furrowed as she watched her friend leave the table, "why?"

With a fleeting apologetic smile, Marlene moved to her new seat next to a fellow Gryffindor name Hannah Beckett. Iris watched her with confusion, and she chastised herself for not paying attention. However, when a head of shaggy black hair and an arrogant smirk sat next to her, Iris groaned internally.

"It appears that we're going to be partners, love."

Iris rolled her eyes at the cocky voice and turned to look at the teenage boy, "I guess we are."

"Don't sound too upset, love, I'm sure we are going to work well with each," the air of cockiness was choking Iris to death. It might end up killing her before she even had the chance to kill Sirius herself.

"For your first assignment," Slughorn brought Iris out of her internal battle over who would die first, "you and your partner must produce Dizziness Draught." The class groaned in frustration. Dizziness Draught! They had barely learned about Dizziness Draught the year prior and now they had to try and make it themselves. Fat chance! "Yes, yes, I know. A moderately difficult brew, but I know you lot are smart enough to do it!" He commented, but everyone knew that he was referring to Lily, who smiled brightly at the professor. "The first pair to finish their brew will gain 10 points for their house each! Now chop, chop!" He exclaimed and urged his students to start on the task, "go now! Start working!"

Iris sighed and opened up her potions book to the correct page. Dizziness Draught was something that was quite simple, in Iris' opinion. She pulled out a cauldron, the necessary ingredients and the correct tools to cut and slice the ingredients.

Sirius watched her start to work silently. She hummed to herself slightly and he could tell that she was in a world of her own. It's obvious that potions was a strong suit of hers. From the way she expertly cut the ingredients and threw them into the cauldron of bubbling liquids, Sirius watched every move she made.

This continued on for a few more minutes. Sirius just sat in his chair and admired Iris work her magic. The other pairs of students had a hard time trying to put it all together and at one point someone's cauldron blew up in their face! But Iris had no trouble at all. She made this look easy. In her moment of bliss and concentration, Sirius grew restless from not doing any work and cleared this throat. The sudden noise startled Iris and she nearly dropped the wrong amount of one ingredient into the cauldron, which would have turned out bad for them.

"Anything I can help with, love?"

Iris sighed out of her nose and didn't even bat an eye in his direction, "no, darling, now do what you do best; sit and look pretty."

Sirius smirked. Iris' comment didn't do anything but help inflate his ego. If anything, she's caused herself more trouble than she would have if she didn't say anything.

"You think I'm pretty?" He arrogantly asked.

Iris rolled her eyes and finally looked up from the ingredient list she was reading. She flashed him a fake smile, "whatever will get you to shut up." And she immediately turned back down to her book and popped another ingredient into the cauldron. She was far too concentrated to slow herself down now, and Sirius is not going to distract her!

Sirius pursed his lips as they once again fell into silence. Restlessly, Sirius began to play with a quill and some parchment. At one point, he decided to annoy Iris. He used the quill to tickle Iris' nose and cheek. At first, she squealed at the light brush of the feather and caused a few of their peers to look over at them in confusion. However, as he continued to do it, Iris grew irritated and plucked the quill from his hands before she threw it on the ground.

The silence between them was once again suffocating Sirius. He has to think of something to say before he dies of boredom. He smirked slyly as he finally thought of a topic that was one he really did want to know about. "This morning was quite a good prank, love."

Iris momentarily paused her brewing to stare at him questioningly. She stared at him for a moment, and Sirius was scared that he had said the wrong thing. She pursed her lips and nodded her head, "thanks."

Sirius swallowed and ran a hand through his hair to hopefully disguise the fact that he was slightly nervous. "I'm just saying," he leaned in closer to as she turned to him with her brow arched, "you pranked some of the best pranksters in the whole school this morning, I'd keep an eye out for any payback."

Iris scoffed, "I guess you're referring to yourself there? Along with the other Marauders?"

Sirius only smirked in reply as the two stared at each other. "Well done!" The two turned away from each other and stared at Professor Slughorn who peered down at their cauldron. With wide, impressed eyes, the professor allowed a smile to stretch across his face. "You two have done an excellent job, this is a perfect brew!"

Iris smiled proudly, "thank you, professor."

"Twenty points to Gryffindor!" The other Gryffindors cheered and congratulated both Iris and Sirius. With a smug smile, Iris gathered her belongings and patted Lily on the head. Her twin rolled her eyes and grumbled under her breath about how impossible and unfair it was that Iris finished first.

Once Professor Slughorn had finished congratulating the pair on their magnificent brew, he allowed the two to leave. Sirius and Iris sauntered out of the room with their heads held high in satisfaction. (Even though Sirius didn't do any work.) Once the door to the classroom shut and the pair were left by themselves in the deserted hallway Iris let out a deep breath and closed her eyes, "finally."

Sirius smirked and reached his arm around Iris' shoulder and drew her into his side. "Yes, love, we can finally spend some time alone together."

Prying herself from under his dangly arm and pushed him away, Iris scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Nice try, darling. However, I would rather spend time _alone_." With that said, Iris sauntered away from the teenage boy. Sirius watched her go with a longing expression. He sighed dreamily as she watched the ginger sashay down the hallway and rounded the corner.

His red-haired beauty disappeared from his sight as he stared at where she had just gone. He did not move. He only reminisced about the feeling of warmth when her body was pressed up against his only moments ago. It was as if Iris had used a love potion of him. He was completely smitten with Iris Evans. The poor boy was wrapped around her finger. After a few moments of staring, Sirius was finally able to compose himself and started to trot after where Iris had gone.

* * *

Under a large oak tree on the edge of the Black Lake, Iris sat against the tree and sighed contently. She had found a wonderful spot to sit by herself and enjoy the quietness. It had taken her a short time to actually navigate around the school grounds, but it was worth it in the end. Hogwarts had a slightly colder climate than Beauxbatons and a somewhat slightly darker aura, but Iris loved that. Beauxbatons was far too bright and colorful for her taste and she appreciated the change of scenery. Hogwarts just had a sense of mystery that tempted Iris to no end. She could only imagine what secrets lied under the calm waters of the Black Lake or what lurked in the forbidden forest.

But as any good thing, they must come to an end. The quiet was interrupted by the sound of leaves being crunched under someone's feet. Iris looked back towards where she heard the sound as a scowl placed itself on her. All she wanted was some peace, Merlin.

Sirius stalked over towards his red-headed beauty that sat under the large oak tree. His shoulder-length black hair swayed in the light breezes that tickled the both of them with a cool gust of air. He smirked widely and plopped himself down next to Iris. "Like I said, Love, we finally get some alone time."

Iris rolled her eyes and scoffed, "you can't take a hint, can you?"

Sirius' smirk didn't falter, "no."

"Right, okay."

The two of them sat in silence. It wasn't necessarily awkward or uncomfortable, but if Iris had a say in this situation, which it doesn't seem like she did because Sirius will most likely follow her, she would much rather be alone. By alone, she means _alone_, not Sirius' definition of the word.

"We don't have to sit in silence, you know." Sirius started which caused Iris to huff through her nose. He smirked and leaned back against the tree, "we could… get to know each other more."

Iris chuckled lightly, "I've already heard enough about you to know that getting to '_know each other_' just means shagging behind this tree."

Sirius laughed lightly in embarrassment, "not always."

"Fine, what exactly do you want to know?"

Sirius, flustered now that he actually had the chance to get to know her, stumbled over his words. "Well, I mean, I-I just wanted to ask how your first day is so far." He smiled sheepishly as he realized he was becoming flustered and embarrassed.

Iris pursed her light pink lips and thought about it for a minute. Of course, the day was going well, mainly due to only having one class so far and getting to leave it early. She'd just have to see how the rest of the day went for her. "So far? It's okay, I suppose," she started and smiled lightly as she seemed to love how Sirius stumbled over his words. "I've only had one class and got to leave it early… but it's fine. Hogwarts is slightly different than Beauxbatons."

"A good different or…"

Iris giggled lightly, "good different, there are no pompous, bitchy blondes run around the courtyard as they use their veela powers on _everyone_ who would look in their direction."

Sirius laughed as well and relaxed as he calmed himself down. He really needs to control himself when it comes to Iris. Most of the times, when he spoke to girls they were the ones blushing under his stare and having a hard time finding their words. It was completely outrageous to think! At least, for him it was. He had a feeling that Iris knew that too and was enjoying the effect she had on him.

The two of them continued to make conversation which mainly consisted of Iris using her effect on him to her own entertainment. Eventually, they had fallen into a comfortable silence as they leaned against the large tree. She would never have guessed, from the stories that her sister and new friends had told her about Sirius, that he was even capable to stay quiet that long.

Soon enough, the three other Marauders came bounding down the hill and towards the tree the two were sitting at. "There you two are," James teased as they all came to sit around the tree, "we were wondering where you _lovebirds_ went after class."

Iris rolled her eyes and hit the back of James' head. All the while, Sirius began to blush after his comment. "Yes, here we are." She scoffed and smirked and smugly asked, "how was potions after we left?"

"Dreadful," Remus commented, "how did you even finish that potion so fast, Iris?"

Sirius gasped scandalously, "Moony, do you think I didn't help my dear Iris with the potion."

Everyone rolled their eyes at his dramatics. "First off," Iris started, "I'm not yours, and second, I think they know for a fact you didn't have a hand in making our potion."

"I find your lack of faith in my intelligence unbelievable."

"I learned about Dizziness Draught a while back at Beauxbatons, it's honestly really simple." She stated and smirked, "it can be used for some brutal pranks as well!"

James laughed, "simple? Even Remus had trouble making it, and he had Lily helping him!" Remus flushed at the fact that James pointed out he was unable to make the potion. He was the smartest out of their group and he usually hated when his friends teased him about not knowing something.

"Speaking of pranks," Remus coughed, "you did quite well this morning."

James brightened as he was reminded of what Iris had done that morning. "Oh! Yes, that was brilliant!" He was thoroughly impressed with what had happened, despite him being apart of the people who were pranked. He could forgive his 'future sister-in-law', however. Especially if she was willing to help him with pranks in the near future.

"Though, I did mention earlier that she should watch her back," Sirius commented smugly and crossed his arms. "You can't prank the Kings of Hogwarts and expect no consequences." The three other boys nodded their heads and opened agreed with him.

Iris nodded her head sarcastically with wide eyes, "Oh, Merlin, I'm really in trouble now, aren't I? I've crossed the Kings of Hogwarts, please, spare me!" She dramatically stated and clasped her hands together as if she were praying. "Have Mercy!" They all laughed at her. They were definitely going to love being friends with Iris if she is always entertaining like this.

* * *

The rest of the day went by like a flash. Iris went to the rest of her classes for the day, sadly. She and the Marauders had Defence Against the Dark Arts class afterward, and as soon as Iris stepped foot through the doors, Lily had been trying to keep Iris and the boys separated. She was fine with Iris being friends with Remus, she actually was friends with him herself. She thought that if Iris was friends with him, his studious personality could have rubbed off on Iris this year. Lily also didn't have a problem with Peter either, he was just a lost puppy kind of boy who followed what the others did. But being friends with James and Sirius wasn't going to help anyone, in her mind.

Of course, when Lily was able to separate the rambunctious group, she forced Iris to sit with her up front, again. However, Iris was quite fond of DADA. It might have been the challenge the class presented her with or the idea of learning about dark powers that were hard to control that interested her, whatever it was, Iris quite liked it. It's strange to even think of Iris actually liking a class!

Afterward was lunch, there Iris was introduced to some of Lily's other friends. She even took the time to say hello to Severus, while also earning sneers and glares from the other Slytherins at their table. But Severus was happy to speak with her even if it was for only a moment. He was glad that she had been enjoying her first day at Hogwarts.

They had departed the Great Hall when they had finished their lunch and headed to their first Herbology class of the year. This class proved to be quite the bore with just about everyone. Iris could tell that barely anyone really kept close attention to the lesson, even Lily seemed susceptible to the boredom the class provided.

When Herbology ended, the fifth year Gryffindors then headed to their last class of the day; Transfiguration with their head of house, Professor McGonagall. Iris didn't think that the class was complete rubbish, but did get bored when McGonagall would drown on and on about one certain spell. She would have much rather cast the spell and ask questions later. Though that could be why she usually ended up in so much trouble all the time…

Transfiguration ended, to the relief of everyone, and then they all headed to dinner. Just like earlier in the day, Lily had dragged Iris away from the Marauders and any of the other boys who she knew were trouble. Iris had already been thrown out of one school because of a prank, she didn't need to be thrown out of a second. Though without the boys to tease and joke with, Iris found dinner to be completely boring!

But Hell would have frozen over if James Potter hadn't tried to speak with Lily at least once, or four times. "Go out with me, Lily?" He asked with a wide arrogant smirk for the fifth time that night and dinner had only started about ten minutes ago.

At that point, Lily should have just ignored James, but she didn't… "Leave me alone, Potter!" She grumbled and tried to turn away from him, only to face her sister who also loved to bother her.

"Give Potter a chance, Lil!" She quipped, "he kind of looks pathetic with all this begging." Lily rolled her eyes and stood up from the table to find somewhere else to sit without being bugged by anyone. "Aw, don't go, Lil! I love you!" Lily ignored her and the chuckles her exaggerations were attracting while sitting further down the table. She calmed down and shrugged her shoulders, "guess you won't be needing this." She grabbed Lily's forgot plate of food and replaced her empty plate with it. Lily was able to grab the last chicken leg off of the platter and Iris was dying for another one. Sometimes messing with her sister resulted in some wonderful outcomes.

* * *

When dinner ended everyone headed up to their common room and dorms. All of the girls, Iris, Lily, Wendy, and Marlene, were up in the common room around the flickering flames in the fireplace. They were gossiping about their first day back.

"Did you see his hair!" Marlene giggled as she gushed about the seventh year Ravenclaw, William Hanning. She had already gone on and on about the older boy for about thirty minutes. It was starting to get slightly annoying, in Iris' opinion. She would much rather be sleeping at the moment in her bed than forced to listen to her sister and new friends giggle and fawn over a bunch of boys.

"Iris," Wendy dragged Iris out of her thoughts of sleeping and back to their conversation, "we really wanted to know where you and Black disappeared off to after potions."

Marlene turned to her, "yeah, by the way, how did you finish that brew so quickly?"

Iris waved her hand dismissively, "I already learned about it a while back and I don't see why it's so interesting where Sirius and I were."

All the girls seemed to laugh at her perturbed and confused expression, "because the two of you were alone for quite some time…" Wendy raised a suggestive eyebrow which caused the other girls to giggle as Iris to scoff.

"Please!" She yelled out, "I wanted to be alone and Sirius followed me down by the Black Lake."

"When it comes to Black, alone time with him means a quick shag somewhere private." Marlene couldn't help but point out. It was known all around the school that Sirius was a player. He was the heartthrob of the school and just about any girl would fall to their knees for him. Well, everyone except Iris.

Iris grinned cheekily, "you're experienced with this sort of thing, are you?"

Marlene turned scarlet as they once again roared in laughter. Wendy had to hold onto Lily to prevent herself from falling off of the love seat the two of them sat on. Marlene was sat on the chair on the far right near the entrance of the common room and Iris had taken up the entire couch. She was stretched out along the velvety red cushions with the excuse that she was 'far more tired' than any of the others. However, it seemed that she would begin to regret choosing the couch over the chair Marlene was sitting in because only one person could sit there… And multiple people could sit on the couch.

With that being said, as the girl's laughter began to die down, the Marauders came bounding into the common room. The four of them were laughing themselves after they had just come back from tormenting Severus once again. Of course, there was no way that they would tell Iris and Lily that. James and Sirius did not want to upset either girl and they threatened Peter and Remus that if they said anything about that to the girls they would be beaten, badly. They knew that, for some reason they couldn't understand, the girls were friends with the snake-like boy. So if the girls found out that they were, more or less, bullying him, things would not turn out good for any of them.

They then noticed that the girls were all sitting on the chairs and couches around the fireplace. They were quick to fill up any of the available spaces. Sirius was quick to jump onto the couch right next to Iris as was Remus, though he was a tad bit more polite about it. James hopped over to sit on the armrest of the love seat next to Lily, who glared at him with piercing green eyes. Peter… just stood by himself as he didn't have a place to sit. He looked lost.

"Fancy seeing you girls here," Sirius commented confidently as he reached out to wrap an arm around Iris' shoulders. She stiffened at his movement and tried to stop herself from blushing at the contact. Was it just her or was the room getting warmer…

"If you want to keep that arm, I advise you to move it." She grumbled out and pushed him away. She then turned away from him with her nose held high.

Sirius smirked and ruffled his perfectly messy hair, "oh but you love it when I touch you." He once again wrapped his arm around him, this time around her waist as he pulled her into his side. He'd be damned if he allowed himself to melt because of this one beautiful, stunning girl without trying to get some sort of reaction out of her. He was going to try to get a reaction out of her like he would any other girl. Iris didn't seem to be the type of girl to swoon over words, so physical contact seemed to be the way to go.

Lily watched how Iris became irritated (or was she blushing?) with how close Sirius was and cleared her throat. "Sirius, really, if you don't want to die today, I suggest you let my sister go."

After taking a quick glance at his fiery-haired woman, Sirius reluctantly let go of her when he saw the murderous look in her coffee-colored eyes. He chuckled lightly and at least put a couple of inches between them. He might be slightly infatuated with her since he first laid eyes on her, but he was already scared of her.

"Right," Wendy commented and stood up from the love seat, "as lovely as it was seeing Iris threaten Sirius, I think we best be off to bed." To prove her point further, Marlene yawned, which was followed by Remus and then James. It was obvious that everyone was tired from the rigorous first day of classes. "Come on!"

"See you in your dreams, Iris!" Sirius exclaimed as he decided to take a page out of James' book. Said boy winked at Sirius as he realized he had copied his own pick-up line, and he approved of it. Though Iris didn't as she slapped the back of Sirius' head and followed the other girls up the tower to their dorm. Sirius rubbed the back of his head but smiled widely, "Night to you too!"

His friends chuckled and tried to keep them as quiet as they could as the girls ascended the stairs. Once the girls were out of earshot they bursted into laughter. "You are so whipped, Padfoot!" Remus was able to get out through his laughter. Sirius only rolled his eyes and sulked in his seat.


	4. An Unfortunate Meeting

**SUN POURED THROUGH THE LARGE GLASS PANE **windows in the girl's dorm. Unlike the morning before, Iris had actually woken up before any of the other girls. She was quick to take a shower and get dressed in her uniform. She had taken her time while getting ready and was, for some reason, quite energetic. Perhaps it was just leftover excitement from the day before, but she didn't really care. Though now that she thought about it, she did feel strange after using her perfume, but that doesn't matter. By the time she had finished brushing her short hair, Wendy had woken up, "Mornin'," She yawned.

"Morning, Wendy."

Wendy stretched and climbed out of her bed, "why are you up early?" The skepticism that was in her voice was evident to Iris as she gathered her robes.

Iris hummed in innocence, "I just am, I don't see why that would be a problem." She sat on her bed and cuddled Shadow who laid in her lap, sleeping. Wendy stared at her for a moment longer with narrowed eyes before shuffling into the bathroom to take a shower.

Surprisingly, the next person to wake up wasn't Lily, it was Marlene who climbed out of her bed. Her hair was knotted and all over the place while drool was left on the corner of her mouth. She might be quite a pretty girl, but the same can't be said when she just woke up. "Good morning, sleeping beauty." Iris teased.

Marlene only grunted in reply as she stalked around the room to gather her belongings. Iris sighed contently and ran her hand through Shadow's fur as she watched her roommates get ready. Lily had yet to get out of bed, for some reason. Soon an idea then popped into her head as a smirk slowly crawled onto her face.

When Wendy noticed the smirk, she grew weary of what the girl was possibly thinking. She was slightly frightened by the look of mischief that was in her eyes. She felt like leaving the room might have been a good option at the moment.

Iris slipped off of her bed, waking Shadow up from his peaceful sleep, and tiptoed over to Lily's bed. She moved to stand on the side of Lily's bed with a wide smirk decorating her face. Oh, she was going to get her payback.

"Lily, wake up…" She whispered and waited a moment before shrugging her shoulders as her sister only continued to sleep peacefully. Oh well, she tried to wake her up, and now, she needed to use some drastic measures. She cracked her neck and cleared her throat lightly. She then started to shake her twin excessively and yelling at the top of her lungs right in her ear. "Get up, Lillian! Wake up!" Lily yelped at the noise and movement and rolled over. Of course, by rolling over, Lily had accidentally fallen off of her bed with a thump. Iris smiled triumphantly while a sense of deja vu washed over her. "Good morning, sister dearest."

Lily sat up slowly on the other side of the bed and glared at her sister from the floor. "I hate you so much."

"Just paying you back for yesterday," Iris commented cheekily and waved her hand dismissively. "Now, I'm heading to the Great Hall because I'm actually ready, unlike some of us." With that, she grabbed her wand, her books and strolled out of the dorm room.

* * *

The Great Hall was filled with many students who were already divulging themselves in their breakfast. Many were tired already as they hated having to wake up so early in the morning while others were buzzing with excitement for the day. Iris had yet to make it to the Great Hall, however. She may have been sidetracked on her way to breakfast by the perfect opportunity to play a trick on Filch and Mrs. Norris. She just had to make sure that she avoided the squib for the rest of the day, or she may end up with detention with the putrid man for the rest of the year. Though, she must admit, if she did end up with detention, it would be so worth it. She reveled in her feelings of pride and satisfaction from the prank that she wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings.

She was shoved in the back and the shove was almost hard enough to push her onto the ground. Iris was able to keep her balance and spun around with a glare. The push wasn't a accident, and she knew that. It definitely felt intentional, and Iris was starting to become mildly annoyed that anyone would do that. Anger bubbled up in her as she came to face with two Slytherin boys.

The first looked to be only a year younger than her with short black hair that had far too much gel in it. The light from the sun had been reflected off of his hair and Iris had to squint her eyes to see the boy properly. His eyes were narrowed towards her with a surprising amount of malice. She knew that Slytherins had a hatred for Gryffindors, but she didn't necessarily expect to be attacked without cause. The boy did have a eerily similar look to one of her friends. If he had longer hair, a spark of mischief in his grey eyes and an aura of arrogance, she swore he could have been a slightly younger version of Sirius.

The second boy had blonde, almost white, hair and dull blue eyes. The boys skin was a pale as a sheet and Iris didn't know if she was looking at a boy or a ghost! He held an immeasurable amount of loathing that was directed towards her and she was sure that he thought she would cower under his stare. Perhaps that's what most people did when he looked at them, but not Iris. After a moment passed, she could tell that he noticed that as his upper lip pulled back in a sneer in hopes of intimidating her. She gave him an unamused look and raised an eyebrow.

"Is there a reason you assaulted me? Or are you just wasting my time?" She asked cooly with her arms crossed and a bored expression.

The younger boy sneered at her, "do you think you're funny?"

Iris rolled her eyes, "wasting my time it is." She snorted humorlessly and tilted her head, "I do find myself funny, but I have a feeling that isn't really the reason why you decided to push me."

The boys shared a glance with each other and turned back to her. "It appears that not all Gryffindors are as stupid as we believed," the blonde boy smirked though there was no sign of amusement anywhere on his face as he shared a glance with his friend once again.

Iris shook her head and sighed, "you two must be living under a rock if you think Gryffindors are stupid. If we're done here, I'm leaving." She turned to leave the two boys who were getting on her nerves and started to head to the Great Hall. Honestly, what is wrong with these boys for them to randomly assault her. She didn't prank them personally, at least, she didn't recall doing so, and definitely found their actions to be overreactions. If she did prank them, it was a prank. _They need to learn to let things go_, Iris bitterly thought as she tried to march away from them. However, it seemed like the two Slytherins weren't done with her.

The blonde boy, Lucius Malfoy, grabbed her forearm before she could get too far and pushed her against the wall. He'd be damned if he or Regulus Black, the other boy, let the Gryffindor go. They needed to make sure that she knew who she was dealing with if she ever crossed them. Think of them being merciful and warning her when she decided to do something stupid that involved them. Plus, this wasn't just about intimidating her. They needed to make sure that the pieces to their twisted puzzle were put into place. "Now wait a minute," he spoke with a patronizing voice, "we have so much to talk about." He and Regulus caged Iris against the wall and tried to intimidate her as much they could. For what could one weak, little Gryffindor girl do against two Slytherin boys?

"Trying to act like thugs are we, boys?" Iris spat out with amusement, "Merlin, and you call me stupid! What are you going to do? Hex me for no reason?"

"No reason!" Regulus barked and quickly pulled out his wand while raising it to her throat threateningly and growled. "We have our reasons, Evans! Think of this as us being kind."

Iris laughed bitterly, "I guess you don't know what the word 'kind' means! Now, can I continue on my way, or not?"

Regulus shook his head at the girls behavior. To think, one of the only reasons they stopped her was to help her out and keep her safe… "We just want to make sure that you're pretty, little face isn't hurt." Iris scoffed, but he ignored it. "Hogwarts has some bad witches and wizards roaming around and if you piss off the wrong ones, you can get hurt."

She could tell that he was referring to himself and his friend, but Iris couldn't care less. She could hear the threat in his voice, not to mention the wand still pointed at her throat, and she was far from being frightened. "Thanks for the advice, but I can handle myself," She gripped Regulus' arm that held his wand and dug her nails into it. "Against _bad_ wizards, but I appreciate your concern."

It didn't seem possible, but Regulus' and Lucius' glares hardened on her as they tried to close in on her further. Before either boy could even try to threaten her again, someone cleared their throat. The trio turned to the person who interrupted them and found Sirius Black glaring at them. Regulus and Lucius sneered back at him, but they both backed up slightly from the red-head and glowered at Sirius.

"If it isn't my brother," Regulus rolled his eyes. "Are you looking out for your precious girlfriend here? But you're not one for commitment, are you?"

Sirius glared at him and approached his brother. Sirius was older than him by a year and was able to hold a slight height advantage over Regulus. He leaned over his brother to try and intimidate him even the slightest bit. The Black brothers have held a hatred for each other ever since they were little, and now that Sirius had caught Regulus leering over Iris, his hatred seemed to sky rocket.

"Just leave her alone, Regulus." Sirius growled and pulled Iris away from the two snakes, "if you don't, you'll have to deal with me." With that said he wrapped his arm around Iris' shoulders and started to guide her away from his brother and his friend. Merlin, what he would give to get rid of his brother from his life!

Iris allowed herself to be guided away from the snakes by Sirius and found herself appreciating what he did. However, she was certain that she could hold her own against the boys. "I had that under control, you know." She spoke up when they turned the corner.

Sirius snorted as he tried to calm himself down, "I sure you did, love." He then flashed her a charming smirk that he hoped would cause her to swoon, "I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to save a gorgeous princess from my demon brother's wrath."

Iris scoffed at his words and turned away from him as they made it to the door of the Great Hall. She didn't want to admit that she found his actions… sweet. "I don't need a knight in shining armour, Sirius." She huffed, "I am perfectly capable to help _myself_." She unraveled herself from under Sirius' arm as they entered the Great Hall, she flashed him a saucy expression, "but I'll let you know when I need your _help_ for something else." She sashayed away from him and left him watching her go with a love sick expression. He certainly noticed that she swayed her hips more with each step she took. Merlin, she definitely knew how to play with him.

Iris plopped down at the table next to Marlene and began to fill her plate with food. She pretended to ignore the glare that her twin was shooting her and munched on some toast innocently. "Good morning, everyone." She finally turned to Lily who was glaring at her while Iris smiles cheekily. "I hope you had a nice wake up call."

* * *

The beginning of the second day of classes moved along smoothly. There were no interruptions during any class and, because of that, Iris found the day incredibly boring. She suffered through Charms and History of Magic and had a hard time trying to stay awake. Those classes proved to have no entertainment for her and she could really only attempt to entertain herself by bugging Lily.

Though, soon enough, Iris was set free as lunch began and she was quick to enter the Great Hall. She found that her sister and friends had begun to eat, but they were fussing over their homework for the next day. Iris did not want to be forced to work on any while she ate because she knew that Lily would make her do so. She had yet to see the Marauders and suspected they were pulling some sort of prank. Despite being slightly bummed out that she hadn't been invited to prank with them, she decided to find the only safe place she knew Lily wouldn't bother her with work.

She earned sneers and glares from Slytherins as she passed them towards the end of their table where Severus sat. She hadn't really gotten to speak with him that much, mainly because Lily was dragging her all over the castle, and she felt like she had been neglecting him slightly.

At the moment, Severus had his face stuffed into a potions book with a faded cover. It was no surprise that he was reading such a book. The boy was obsessed with potions and was the best at it.

Iris rolled her eyes, "why is everyone doing work?" She whined and sat down next to Severus and shoved his shoulder lightly.

The black-haired boy jumped slightly as he was startled at his friends sudden appearance. He calmed down his racing heart and smiled wistfully, "Hello, Iris." His voice wavered as it held a tone of confidentiality. "Unlike you, some of us actually are focused on our school careers."

Iris rolled her eyes at his teasing and huffed while she slouched in her spot. "I can't focus on something as boring as school, Sev!" She cried out dramatically which caused some of the other Slytherins to glare in their direction.

Severus placed his book down and decided to give his full attention to Iris. If he didn't, he knew that she would just find a way to annoy him and/or torment him or both. He might be friends with Iris, but she really could get on his nerves. He supposed that was why the two of them had a sibling bond.

"You have to at least try…" He started, "if you want to have a successful life after you graduate, you need to do well in your classes."

Iris sighed. He was right, but she didn't want to admit that. "But why?!" She whined like a child, then picked up as an idea popped into her head. "If anything I'll sell my trick treats or something after school!"

She could open a shop and make her own tricks that people could buy and use on their own friends. She could spread her genius to so many people who were just as mischievous and troublesome as her. Producing products and having fun messing with people, seems like the perfect job for her, seeing as she already does it. She could have her own shop and everything!

Severus broke her out of her daydream, "please, don't." He complained, "this world does not need any more people like you parading around!"

Iris scoffed, "a world full of people like me would be-"

"Horrible!" Severus gaped and shivered at the thought.

Iris shook her head and poked her brother-like friend in the cheek, "no, you numpty, it would be amazing!" Iris cheered. Severus rolled his eyes and slowly smiled at her antics as she started to speak animatedly about her plan for her 'trick shop' she named: 'Evans' Escapade Emporium'.

They were too in-depth with their conversation that they didn't notice a pair of light grey eyes staring at them. Sirius watched as the Slytherin and Gryffindor laughed with each other. Merlin, how was that greasy, slimy Slytherin making his Iris laugh and smile like that? He clenched his fist and watched as Severus whispered something to the redhead that caused her to roll her eyes and smirk.

She gave him a reply, and Sirius was sure it was to tease the boy, but he clenched his jaw as he watched her move closer to him. He could imagine the coy and teasing voice she was using to speak with Severus. Sirius wanted to hear it for himself, it was selfish for him to think that, he knew. However, he didn't think that Severus Snape, a _Slytherin_, deserved to hear that tone of voice from her. He huffed hotly and turned away from the scene in annoyance. He couldn't watch them anymore. The hot feeling in his chest was proving to be bothersome, and he was sure exactly why he was feeling like that. Perhaps he should ask what it might be, seeing as that wolf was the smartest out of his three best friends.

"Sev?" Severus hummed and looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow, "You know most of the students in Slytherin, right?"

Severus nodded his head slowly. Why would he ask that? What was she planning? "I do, why? Are you going to prank someone!"

Iris rolled her mischievous brown eyes and smirked, "possibly, but these two guys decided to confront me this morning. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm sure that I saw you sitting with them the night of the welcome feast."

Severus gulped. Things were already being put into motion, and it was only the second day of school! Merlin… "Y-you mean Lucius and Regulus? They're my… f-friends."

"Friends!" Iris exclaimed with her mouth agape, "you!? You're friends with those thugs!" She could see the hesitation in his eyes at her outburst. She never pictured the shy, reserved Severus Snape being friends with such boys as the two she had the _pleasure_ of meeting that morning.

"’Friends’ is a loose term, but we do hang out a bit…" His voice was weak as he saw the anger his pseudo-sister possessed for the boys. He winced as he realized the meeting between the trio must have not gone to plan. Seeing the annoyance and loathing she had for them also meant that the potion didn't work either.

Iris scoffed, unaware to his thoughts, "you need to stop hanging out with those guys, honestly!" Severus smiled as he picked up the tone of protectiveness in her voice. "They're nothing but trouble!"

Severus laughed, "says you!"

Iris scowled and shook her head as she tried to stay serious, "yes me! Which means they are _big_ trouble that you should avoid, Sev." She bit the inside of her cheek and looked away from him, "I just don't want you to get hurt by those idiots."

Severus shook his head and smiled softly, "don't worry, Iris, I can watch out for myself." He appreciated seeing the compassionate side of Iris that so rarely showed itself ever. However, he could help the nagging in the back of his head at his words. For he wasn't doing a good job of protecting her. If anything, he was putting her in harm's way,

* * *

As the day went on, Iris didn't mention her encounter with the other Black brother and his blond friend to Lily or any of her other friends. Since none of the other Marauders questioned her about it either, she was certain that Sirius stayed quiet about it too. That could only mean that Sirius wanted to talk with her about it privately, but she didn't focus on that. Instead, for once, she actually paid attention to her class. (Though she was distracted every once and a while by the Marauders throughout the class.)

Herbology wasn't a completely boring class, in Iris' opinion. There were quite a few plants that she had learned about in the past that could be used in pranks and potions. So learning about them entertained her for the moment. Professor Beery had given a lesson on Alihotsy, aka the Hyena tree. Iris found that plant extremely fascinating and planned on finding one for her own use. The tree's leaves could cause hysteria and were used for a laughing potion that Iris was easily familiar with.

However, after an in-depth lesson about the plant, she was certain that if she mixed it into a potion with other ingredients the outcome would be brilliant. She had so many ideas of possible ingredients to mix the plant with, effects that the potions may have and the pranks that could come of them, that she didn't even notice the class had ended. Wendy had to pull Iris from her plotting in order to get her out of the classroom. She could only dread what sort of schemes Iris was thinking of.

The group of girls chatted with each other as they trotted down the hall. It was getting dark outside and the moon had finally broken through the horizon once the sun had disappeared. It was dinnertime and the girls hadn't made it to the Great Hall yet. Marlene made it the utmost important that they watched the Ravenclaw Quidditch team try out. She had been drooling over William, the Ravenclaw's keeper, the entire time. Merlin, that girl was obsessed with the seventh year!

"Oh, he is so handsome!" She sighed dreamily and closed her eyes as if she was imagining him behind her eyelids, which she most likely was. Iris shook her head. How could they be so obsessed with boys? She didn't find it necessary to date anyone or be pinning over anyone, at least, not for a while. Though that didn't mean she didn't like to mess with them every once and awhile. By doing so, they provided her with quite a lot of entertainment.

The four girls heard footsteps echoed behind them but weren't bothered enough to turn to see who was approaching. They were most likely students who were also heading to dinner, or they were a teacher. Either way, they didn't think anything of them. However, when they speed up, Iris decided to take a quick look.

As soon as she saw bleach blond hair with pale blue eyes, black hair with grey eyes and dark green robes, she groaned internally. She really didn't want to deal with those idiotic thugs again. "Have you resorted to stalking, boys?" She snapped as she stopped walking while turning to glare at them. She smiled sarcastically, "I don't know if I should be flattered or disturbed by that."

Lily, Wendy and Marlene's eyes narrowed as they watched Lucius Malfoy and Regulus Black stalk towards Iris. They had no idea why they seemed to glare at Iris, but they suspected that it was either Iris pranked them or they just felt like harassing the new girl. The three of them had a feeling it might have been both.

"Shut your mouth, Evans!" Lucius snarled as the both of them drew closer to the group of girls. Both of their lips were pulled back as they scowled at the ginger girl. If looks could kill…

"Make me, Malfoy!" Iris growled and advanced towards them. Just like earlier, she wasn't intimidated by them. Lucius towered over her as his eyes bore into hers. He stared at her intently for a moment, as if he was waiting for something, before huffing and turning to Regulus with an emotion Iris clearly identified as frustration. Unbeknownst to her, he wasn't frustrated with just her actions but also for not getting the right reaction out of her. It wasn't working!

"Just leave us alone!" Marlene commented angrily while standing next to her friend. She tried to flash her most intimidating glare, but it didn't seem to be working as the boys laughed loudly.

"Is that the best you can do, Mckinnon?!" Regulus howled in laughter at her attempt. "All you Gryffindors are pathetic!"

The girls all started to shout their protests at his remark. Each of them was extremely angry at the two Slytherins. What they hell is their problem?

Iris quirked an eyebrow as she spoke over her friend's comments and the boys' obnoxiously loud laughter, "then why do you two seem so infatuated with me?! If anything following me around like this is pathetic."

Regulus rolled his eyes and closed in on Iris in hopes that she would back down. However, this is Iris Evans that he's talking about! Iris Evans is not one to back down, especially from stupid, idiotic boys who think they can frighten her!

Just like Lucius, Regulus stared into her eyes for a long moment. Iris' eyebrows furrowed as she found their actions weird. It was like they were waiting for something…

"Come on, Regulus." Lucius' voice broke Iris out of her thought as she turned to glare at him, "we'll be late for dinner."

Regulus hummed and continued to stare at Iris for a moment longer before he huffed out a sigh. "Fine," his eyes narrowed at Iris, "we can talk later, Evans." With that, he pushed Iris out of the way and bumped her on the shoulder, as did Lucius. They walked through the other three girls and shot them each snarls and glares before stomping away.

The quartet of girls watched as they turned the corner and each of them was tense with anger and frustration. "Those two are so infuriating!" Wendy exclaimed.

Marlene scoffed and agreed, "Yeah, who do they think they are?! Us? Pathetic?"

Lily shook her head in annoyance as her nose crinkled up. Those boys had proven to be problems ever since she first heard of them, however, now Iris was somehow involved with them. How was her sister involved with them? "Iris?" Her sister turned to her and ground her teeth as she tried to calm herself down. "What was that about?!"

Iris pursed her lips as she saw the annoyance burning in her sister's eyes and the slight concern in her voice. Lily worries too much about her sometimes. Iris could take care of herself quite well. Those two idiots weren't hard to handle.

"They're idiots, isn't it obvious?" Iris asked rhetorically. She started to lead the group down the hall so that they could make it to the Great Hall on time. She would be damned if she allowed those boys to distract her enough from getting food at dinner. No matter what, food is always important!

"But you had to have done something, right? They wouldn't just… approach you like that…" Lily trailed off and waited for Iris to elaborate.

Iris rolled her eyes, "I didn't do anything to them, at least, unless they ate my sweets the other day, but I could tell it was definitely not about that."

"Really?" Wendy raised an eyebrow, "because it seemed that way to me."

The other girls nodded their heads, "yeah!"

The mischievous redhead shrugged her shoulders as the anger in her mind continued to fester. "I don't know what I did! Okay? They decided to corner me this morning and _warn_ me about _bad wizards_! Merlin, they are thick!"

Her friends' eyes widened, "this morning?" Lily asked with shock, "what do you mean?"

Iris finally slowed down her harsh stomps and finally turned to her small group of friends. The other three girls were able to see her face had become red in anger. She looked like a giant strawberry! "They're thugs, honestly! They thought they could intimidate me or something! Me!" She laughed harshly as they came to stand outside the Great Hall.

It was about halfway through the dinner and it was in full swing. It was almost completely full to the brim with weary students. At this point, Iris didn't feel like sitting down and eating, which is unbelievable! However, she was far too riled up to calm down. At the moment, she just wanted to sit on her bed and pet Shadow while he slept in her lap. (All that cat seemed to do was sleep.)

Lily could see the anger that consumed her sister's being and knew that when she became this agitated, it was never good. She wasn't sure if it was a twin thing or not, but she always knew what her sister needed when she became emotional. Lily had the ability to control her own emotions, at least, control them to not lash out. Iris was a different story, and Lily was all too familiar with that.

"We can talk about it later," she said in a calm tone to hopefully relax her sister. "We'll meet you in the common room." Lily then grabbed Wendy and Marlene's hands and dragged them away. Both of the girls squeaked as their friend pulled them away. They each shared a confused look with each other and turned to watch as Iris stomped away from the Great Hall and in the direction of the common room.

* * *

Iris growled the password to the fat lady and barged into the common room. It was nearly completely silent, except for the fire in the fireplace, as she stalked further into the room. All she wanted to do was climb up the stairs to her dorm and curl up with her cat under the covers. Her anger had lessened to a point where she wasn't muttering under her breath about the 'thugs' who decided to annoy her.

However, that changed as soon as she approached the stairs to the girls dorm. She didn't have any chance to jump out of the way, but a slimy, sticky orange substance covered her entire body. She yelped and stumbled back in shock. She tried to brush the mystery goo off of her, but found that it was far harder. It was like the magical slime was stuck on her robes and skin permanently.

Laughter broke out as four boys appeared from under the invisibility cloak. The Marauders tried to breathe properly but couldn't stop themselves from falling into laughter again. Remus and Peter were hanging onto each other as they tried to stay upright. James had fallen onto the floor and clutched his stomach in hysterics. Sirius hung onto the couch to stop himself from falling over while he also clutched his stomach as it began to hurt him from laughing too much.

On any other occasion, Iris would have joined in the laughter and asked them about the gooey substance on her and what magical properties it had. However, because of how angry she was due to the Slytherins who decided to bother her, she was not in the mood for a prank. Which was strange because Iris loved to prank all the time, even if she was the victim (which was rare). It seemed that what had happened had just gotten to her too much.

"Oh, your face!" James howled.

"That's payback, Iris!" Sirius barked out between his laughter, "told you that we'd get you back, love!"

She glared at them hotly for a moment before groaning and running up the stairs to her dorm. To think she was nearly completely calm, now she'd have to try and get the gunk off of her. The boys' laughter began to die down when they realized that Iris hadn't joined in and in fact had run up to her dorm.

When they were completely sober, They shared a glance with each other and shrugged their shoulders in confusion. "Why did she run off?" Remus wondered out loud and stared at the stairs to the girls' dorm. They all only shook their heads in uncertainty. Why had she acted like that? They thought she would have joined in their laughter and congratulated them on the prank before asking them about the goo they created.

They did not expect her to act like that.

Sirius swallowed as he stared at where she had gone. "Do you think she's upset with us?" He started to feel a pit form in his stomach at the thought of upsetting her. He didn't want to be apart of anything that would make his love cry or become angry, not at all.

James looked at his best friend with nervousness plastered all over his handsome face. "She is most definitely upset with us…"

All of the boys winced as they realized that they had made a grave mistake. They knew what Lily could do when she was upset… And they knew that Iris was capable of many things… So what would Iris do to them?

* * *

Iris had finally figured out a spell to get the orange substance off of her after several attempts. Once she did, she hoped into the bathroom to take a satisfying shower. The shower not only helped with getting the gunk off of her but also allowed her to calm down completely. The feeling of water trickling down her body and warming her up caused her to sigh contently as she stood under the showerhead.

She finished her long shower and got dressed in her night clothes before climbing into her bed and under the covers. Shadow had made himself comfortable next to her and allowed his owner to pet him gently. Soon enough, he was purring contently and had fallen asleep.

Iris perked up when the door to the room opened, albeit hesitantly, after about a half hour of silence in the room. She watched as her roommates shuffled into the room and made their way to their own beds to get ready to sleep.

"Hey, Iris." Lily smiled softly as she sat on Iris' bed next to her. Like most times when Iris became too emotional, Lily had to make sure that she was there for her sister so she could talk to her about them. It was never good to bottle up feeling, especially if it was Iris who was doing it. Merlin knows what would happen if Iris let her emotions get the better of her after being repressed for too long. Iris was a strong witch and a troublemaker who knew how to get to people, it wouldn't end well for anyone. "You okay?"

Iris chuckled under her breath, "I'm better, I guess I just needed a shower and some time alone. You know how I can get sometimes."

Lily nodded her head and patted her sister's arm as Iris laid on her side, "that's good to hear."

"Iris," Marlene called as she exited the bathroom with a toothbrush in her mouth. Her words were obscured slightly, but understandable nonetheless. "Is there a reason that the boys are going mad downstairs?"

Wendy joined the conversation, "yeah, they kept babbling on about apologizing to you for some prank…"

Iris raised an eyebrow in surprise, "apologize? I didn't think I'd ever heard of something more absurd!" From the stories that Lily had told her about the Marauders over the summers that they were together, Lily had never made any sort of indication that those four boys were capable of apologizing. Well, at least, Sirius and James weren't. Remus was actually kind and would apologize to victims of their pranks on occasion, and Peter was usual scared of any backlash that may come his way if he didn't do so to people. He was the most vulnerable member of their little friend group and if cornered by himself, there was no doubt he would be beaten to pulp!

"They were hysterical about it! It was quite entertaining, really." Marlene commented in amusement as she walked into the bathroom to finish brushing her teeth, "I don't think I've ever heard them so scared before!"

Iris smirked, "I guess they would be…"

Lily turned to Iris with a suspicious look, "why… What happened?" It only took Iris a few minutes to explain the encounter that she had with the Marauders nearly an hour ago. "Those pricks!" Lily exclaimed once Iris finished, "didn't the notice that you were upset before they even decided to prank you?!"

Iris shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, but if they did, it seems like they realize that they messed up after I was covered in the goo." She perked up at the mention of the substance, "which, by the way, I find quite fascinating! I'm unsure of what they did to make it, but it's brilliant! It took me a few tries to try and get it off, but I found a spell that worked! I really want them to tell me how they made it!"

Lily rolled her eyes, "focus, Iris! They pranked you and about nearly caused you to become even more upset than you were before."

Iris waved her hand dismissively, "so? I play tricks and prank people too, it wouldn't make sense if I got angry over a small prank like that. Besides it was payback for the other day." She shrugged her shoulders with a smirk, "it would be hypocritical of me."

Lily sighed defeatedly as she realized that her sister wasn't upset about it as she was. It was slightly mean what they did, but Iris did have a point. She also pranked people and if she were to get upset over a prank played on her it would be idiotic of her if she couldn't take the joke. "Whatever, but tomorrow morning I'm having a talk with those boys!" Iris rolled her eyes as she heard the motherly tone in her voice. Merlin, her sister acted more like her mother sometimes.

"Sure thing, sis."

* * *

Just like the night before, Iris stared at the top of her bed as she laid on her back. She wasn't very tired and couldn't do anything to put herself to sleep. It wasn't like she was going to do her homework or read a book to help lul herself to sleep. However, thinking about the boring tasks caused her to yawn a little.

Perhaps sitting in front of the fireplace may help her. It could work. While attending Beauxbatons, when Iris couldn't fall asleep, she took to stargazing on the balcony of her dorm to make her tired. The flames and burning wood would just have to substitute for the bright stars in the sky for the time being. She carefully climbed out of her bed and stepped around her sister and friends beds. She made sure that this time Lily was actually asleep before heading out. She didn't want a repeat of last night.

She silently made her way down the staircase as if she was being watched. She didn't want Lily to be woken up and come barging down the stairs while yelling at her because she thought Iris was pulling another prank.

She swiftly stepped down the stairs and into the common room to see the fire lit in the fireplace. Along with the fire already being lit, there was a body stretched out along the couch. Someone else must have had the same idea as her.

She rounded the couch and came face to face with Sirius. She furrowed her eyebrows and stared at the teenage for a minute as she got a sense of deja vu. All that was needed was her using the Aguamenti on him to really make it like the previous night. However, she didn't feel like it, plus she left her wand upstairs.

She tapped the boy's head and waited for some sort of response. She only received a groan as Sirius stirred in his sleep and settled back down. Iris arched an eyebrow and this time shook his shoulder harder.

"Wake up, you idiot."

Sirius finally woke up and opened his heavy eyes. He didn't expect to be woken up in the common room as he was sure that he was the only one down there, but perhaps someone also couldn't sleep. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't sleep due to the pit in his stomach. It felt like he was being eaten from the inside out. He had finally fallen asleep after staring into the fire for so long, but he wasn't necessarily happy to be woken up.

That was the case until his heavy eyelids slid open to reveal Iris. He instantly became alert and sat up immediately as he brushed his hand through his hair. Startled at the appearance of the redhead, he cleared his throat and tried to get rid of any sign of being sleepy. "Hello, love."

Iris smirked at him, "this is the second night in a row we've hung out in the common room after curfew."

"So it seems," Sirius patted the cushion next to him, "come on, I don't bite."

Iris slowly sat down on the couch next to him and faced him with her smirk never slipping off of her face. "Well, I do."

Sirius coughed at her comment in surprise and turned away from her so he would see his flustered expression. This girl always had him so flustered at even a simple statement, and Sirius had yet to realize why that was true. However, just like him, Iris seemed to question why some of his actions and words caused her stomach to flutter and her head to become dizzy. _It doesn't mean anything… _Both of them thought.

"Is this going to be a common occurrence?" Iris asked as she glanced away from Sirius to the fireplace for a moment before turning back to him to see that he calmed himself down. "The both of us staying up late like this?"

Sirius pondered her question for only a second. "It could be if you'd like…"

Iris shrugged her shoulders and made herself comfortable on the couch, "I don't know. It would be nice to have someone to talk to if I'm too tired to sleep."

Sirius smiled, "that does sound nice." He cautiously moved closer to Iris and studied her calm demeanor. She didn't openly appear to be angry about earlier, but she could just be deceiving him. For all he knew she was plotting against him for another prank. He flashed her a worried smile, "you're not angry about the prank we pulled on you…?"

Iris puckered her lips and tried to keep a serious look on her face, "of course I am." Sirius' eyes widened as he scooted away from her in fright. Merlin, now he was going to have to watch his back! Iris laughed at his reaction and clutched her stomach. Sirus was still on guard as he wasn't sure if she was pulling his leg. "I'm not, you idiot."

The tension in his shoulders dissipated as his body sagged into the couch. "Don't play with a guy's feelings like that, love."

Iris flashed him a flirtatious smile and whispered, "oh, but you love it, darling. I can tell."

Sirius cleared his throat and chuckled the best he could. "So you're not angry with us?"

"No, I played a prank on you, we laugh, you play a prank on me, we laugh." She explained with a smile. Sirius could help but notice the way her nose scrunched up slightly in amusement.

"But you seemed quite angry afterward… if it wasn't us then what had you so angry?"

Iris bit the inside of her cheek as she debated telling Sirius about what his younger brother and his friend had done. She could tell that Sirius and Regulus didn't have the best relationship with each other. She didn't know how he would react if she told him about what his brother had done.

Sighing, she finally responded, "when the girls and I were headed to dinner, we ran into Regulus and Lucius."

Sirius clenched his jaw, "they didn't do anything to you right?" Anger and concern swelled inside of him. He was angry at his brother for his seeming obsession with Iris and the fact that he didn't leave her alone like he told him to. He was also concerned that Regulus could have done something to Iris. Sirius had no idea why Regulus seemed to take an interest in her, but he suspected that it had to do with something stupid.

"You think they could do something to me!" Iris snorted, "they couldn't if they tried, darling!"

Sirius smirked at the confidence and arrogance that leaked from her mouth. "I only wanted to make sure, Regulus is… "

"An insufferable brat?" Iris supplied as Sirius trailed off.

Sirius chuckled wholeheartedly at the description of his younger brother, "that's one way of putting it."

The two sat in silence. The quiet wasn't suffocating or tense, it was calm. Iris stared at the fire as the flames licked and charred the wood under its heat. She had her legs tucked underneath herself as her arms were wrapped around herself. Sirius took the opportunity to move closer to the girl. Iris tried to ignore his movements and focus on the flames to calm her down enough to go to sleep, but the fluttering feeling in her stomach came back as Sirius got closer to her.

She tried to will it away, but it wouldn't leave her alone. It intensified when Sirius had the audacity to wrap his arm around Iris' shoulders and pull her into him. Because she was propped up on her legs, she had fallen over at his tug and landed on his chest.

She huffed in annoyance and hid her face. She didn't hide her face because she started to blush heavily at the close proximity of the boy, no, not at all. She just didn't want to look at his smirk she knew he was sporting. That was it!

"Isn't this far more comfortable?" Sirius cheekily asked as his own stomach did somersaults.

Iris swallowed, "I suppose it is." She didn't continue as she could feel her voice failing her. Once again, the two teenagers were bathed in silence. It was slightly tense because of the tension that brewed in both of their stomachs, but other than that, they both did find their position comfortable.

It was so comfortable, in fact, that while staring at the fireplace and allowing the warmth that Sirius provided her wash over her soft skin, Iris started to drift off to sleep. Soon enough, her eyelids had slide shut completely and she started to snore slightly. Sirius watched her peacefully sleep as she subconsciously snuggled into his side. He could get use to this feeling. After a few minutes of admiring the beautiful girl pressed against his side, Sirius was also lulled to sleep as well.

However, the both of them were probably going to regret falling asleep in such a position. As in the morning, Gryffindors were going to file down the stairs for breakfast and see the two curled up on the couch together. Imagine the teasing both would endure from their friends!

Of course, their embarrassment would most likely cause neither of them to admit that they had actually enjoyed the position they were in. They may even become more confused by the fluttering feelings in their stomach and the aches in their chest when they would part ways in the morning. Although, it was certain that both would definitely try to brush it off in the morning.

Merlin, both of them were completely clueless.


	5. Blood Brother Ritual

**NOT ONLY HAD THE TWO TEENAGERS BEEN** teased mercilessly by their friends that next morning, but Lily had taken it upon herself to scold the Marauders like she said she would. None of the boys doubted that she would cash in on the threats that she gave them if they ever did actually upset her sister. They knew her warnings were never meant to be taken lightly.

Of course, the teasing hadn't gone away for either Sirius or Iris for quite some time. James, Remus, and Peter spent weeks teasing Sirius about how far he actually got with Iris. Said girl suffered through her teasing as well. Wendy, Marlene, and Lily had decided to start referring to Sirius as Iris' _boyfriend_. Both of them hated their friends sometimes.

Their little midnight rendezvous didn't stop, however. Every night for the past month and a half, the two would meet down in the common room and talk with each other about their days and what was on their minds. Iris swore that it was the first time she had really opened up herself to someone other than her sister or her parents. The same could be said about Sirius.

The harassment from Regulus and Lucius also didn't stop. Every chance they could, they tried to corner Iris. Whether in the corridors, classrooms or even the Great Hall, they were always trying to speak with her. The encounters were short but each time it was like they were expecting something from her. Iris suspected that it wasn't just a simple reaction from her that they wanted… It was bothering her that they seemed to be waiting for something. It was like she was supposed to provide something to them at some point, but she had no clue what it was.

The Marauders had taken the liberty of dealing with the Slytherins in their usual Marauder ways. On certain occasions, Lucius would find that his hair had been turned an obnoxiously bright color or Regulus would discover himself stuck to every object his body touched. The Marauders were having a magnificent time enjoying their newest pass-time of tormenting the boys who decided to harass Iris.

At the moment, said boys were doing just that. They howled in laughter as they pointed their wands in the direction of Lucius. The older boy was levitating in the air as he flailed wilding. His wand was far out of his reach, so he couldn't retaliate against the group of boys who decided to confront him. His face had become a putrid purple as blood rushed to his pale face. If it had been anyone else who was upside down, a few of the brave students who try to interrupt their fun and tell them off would have tried to stop them. However, as _the_ Lucius Malfoy was the one dangling from his feet in the air, no one really wanted it to stop.

It was just after breakfast and every student was heading to their first lesson of the day. Of course, except for the Marauders who were preoccupied with torturing the blond boy. They had noticed how he tried to scurry out of the Great Hall in the direction of Iris. Once the Marauders had seen the older boy make a beeline for their friend, they made it their mission that moment to stop him before he could reach her. They succeeded which is evident by the torment they were putting him through at that very moment.

Students passed by the hilarious display and laughed along with them before scurrying off to their classes. Many Slytherins were disgusted with the ordeal but wisely stayed silent as they knew the retaliation they would receive from the four Gryffindors. None of them wanted to end up joining Lucius in the air.

"Is Malfoy upset?" James cooed like he was talking to a small child. He held his wand steady has he levitated Lucius above the ground. Remus had been reluctant to torment the older boy because he didn't necessarily like picking on people. However, after not only hearing about the less than pleasant confrontations between Lucius, Regulus, and Iris but seeing it, Remus was happy to oblige and help his friends. He, along with Peter, was using their own wands to throw many different jinxes in Lucius' direction. Although, Peter barely had the courage and capacity to only mutter one or two spells.

Unlike his rat-like friend, Sirius had a far larger array of hexes and jinxes that he took the liberty of using. He spat out a very large collection of spells that ranged from Furnunculus, the pimple jinx, to Mimblewimble, the tongue-tying hex. If he could, there was no doubt that Sirius would use multiple curses on the blond boy, but he would end up in serious trouble if he did do that. But Merlin, it was so tempting…

"Mr. Potter!" A shrill, uptight voice screamed as the boys continued their fun, "Mr. Black! Mr. Pettigrew! Mr. Lupin!" Minerva McGonagall, the transfigurations professor and head of the Gryffindor house, rushed over to the group of troublemaking boys as she watched them continue to throw spells at the older Slytherin boy. Her lips were pulled back tightly in a thin line as her robes moved behind her like a sea of raging green waves while she hurriedly marched over to the group of boys. "Put Mr. Malfoy down this instant!"

The Marauders gave each other glances. Peter and Remus both seemed to oblige with her order and put their wands back into their robes. The two of them didn't want to make their punishment harsher than it already would be. James was reluctant to stop his assault on the boy who was harassing his future sister-in-law, as he always kept referring to her as, but he complied as well. He retracted his wand which caused Malfoy to fall onto his back uncomfortably with a loud thump. The boy groaned as he laid on the ground in slight pain.

Sirius couldn't let Lucius go so easily, of course. He had to make sure that the snake knew what would happen if he continued to follow Iris around so much. With one last flick of his wand, Sirius muttered, "anteoculatia." Lucius' hair suddenly sprouted antlers which caused the boys to laugh once again.

Professor McGonagall scowled at the boys, "what in Godric's name do you think you are doing!?"

"Well you see, Minnie," Sirius started off with a sly and mischievous smirk. The professor rolled her eyes at the nickname that the boys had coined her a few years ago. "Malfoy had decided to start picking on one of our friends."

James joined in the explanation, "so we only saw it fit to do the same to him."

Professor McGonagall bristled as he surveyed each of the boys with a hard glare. "If that is true, you speak with a member of staff, not go about taking the matter into your own hands!"

Sirius and James only continued to smirk as they shrugged their shoulders simultaneously, "where's the fun in that?"

The professor huffed. Despite not being related, the two boys acted like brothers, twins really. However, even though they caused so much mischief and trouble, Minerva would say that she did find the pair to be quite entertaining. (Of course, she wouldn't admit that out loud.) But the boys had their rough spots. Specifically how they tended to bully some other students. Their attacks on other children had diminished over the years as they seemed to grow older and mature, but they had their moments. It just so happened that Lucius Malfoy was apart of this moment. If their claims were true, about the Slytherin boy bullying another student, then Minerva would have to investigate it further.

"That has nothing to do with fun, boys! Detention for all four of you tonight!" The boys did not groan or whine in protest at her dictation. (Well, Peter and Remus did slightly, but they were used to getting detention nearly every day by now.) They just smirked and nodded their heads. She started to shoo the boys, "now off to class, the lot of you!" With a solid glare shot at Lucius who was sitting on the floor of the corridor, the four fifth-year Gryffindors sauntered away from the scene and towards their first class of the day.

* * *

Iris settled into her seat of her History of Magic class. She was more than ready to let the boring, monotone voice of their ghostly professor, Professor Cuthbert Binns, lull her to sleep. He may not have the nicest of voices, by far, but it proved to put many students to sleep every day. Iris happened to be one of them. She found that during this class, she could catch up on sleep with a nap and then borrow Lily's notes later in the day. Iris stretched her arms and cracked her neck with a satisfying pop. She was completely ready for her annual 'History nap'. Both Wendy and Lily didn't approve of how Iris spent her class time, but they didn't argue with her. Marlene, on the other hand, actually joined Iris sometimes.

Of course, before she could truly place herself in a comfortable position on her desk, she was jabbed in the abdomen by the person sitting next to her. She hissed at the sudden attack and glared at Marlene.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" She grumbled as she rubbed her stomach.

Marlene didn't seem to care about the pain that she inflicted on her friend and just turned to her and whispered, "it seems like your boyfriend and the others are going to be late to class."

Iris huffed and shoved her friend, almost sending her onto the floor, and glared at her. "How many times do I have to say that he isn't my boyfriend!" She bristled, "besides why would I care if they're late or not, they're big boys who can take care of themselves."

"_Take care of themselves_," Marlene scoffed under her breath, "I'm sure the lot of them are getting detention from a professor right about now."

"I have no doubt about that, but as I said, I don't care!"

Marlene continued her teasing, "I thought you would be a more caring girlfriend, Iris."

Iris groaned while pulling at her hair, "Stop it!"

Lily looked over to see Marlene chuckling under her breath while her sister was red in the face and pouting. Her eyebrow arched at the display and leaned over to Wendy, "what do you think is happening?"

Wendy glanced at the pair and shrugged her shoulders, "no idea."

They could tell that Marlene was having a fun time teasing Iris over something. From the smile that was stretched across the McKinnon girls face and the flustered expression on Iris' face, they could guess that their friend had decided to tease Iris about Sirius. They had enjoyed using that against her ever since they had found the two of them snuggled against each other on one of the common room couches a few weeks ago.

Even though she constantly declared that there was nothing going on between them, they all begged to differ. Did she think they didn't notice how she and Sirius spent their times at night together? They weren't thick.

Lily hummed and shook her head, "no doubt something stupid."

"Knowing those two, definitely."

The rest of the students, Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, all settled in their seats scattered around the classroom. The ghostly figure of Professor Binns floated along the ground as he approached the front of the classroom. The class was about to start and there was still no sign of the Marauders at all.

Iris didn't notice that at all… Well, maybe she did notice. However, she didn't care about it… Okay, maybe she did care a little. What sort of trouble had they gotten into? She was irritated that she hadn't been invited to spread chaos throughout the school with them. Instead, her friends had dragged her to their first class of the day. Of course, that may have been her own fault. She had been given detention by most of the professors after she had entered the class late a few times and even missed a few lessons.

Granted it wasn't always her fault that she was late! The boys were the ones who usually included her in pranks and etcetera that caused her tardiness. Not only that, but Regulus and Lucius had been following her around the castle all the time. She had decided to try and avoid them by taking alternate routes to her classes which only results in her being late. Now, she wasn't one for hiding from a problem, but they were annoying! Merlin, she didn't know what they wanted from her! However, the professors didn't care for her possible excuses.

Professor Binns started his lesson, "open your books to page…" Iris yawned and rested her head on her desk. She had finally closed her eyes while ignoring the lesson when the doors to the classroom opened. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter waltzed into the classroom without a care. Professor Binns didn't falter in his lecture, as usual. History of Magic happened to be the only class where anyone could get away with anything. Just as long as you don't miss the class in its entirety, then you would be fine.

The fours boys plopped themselves in their chairs. The desk behind Iris and Marlene being taken by Sirius and Remus while the desk behind Lily and Wendy was taken by James and Peter. It was a common occurrence to see the four of them come into class late so nobody paid them any mind. Even Professor Binns continued to drone on about a troll war. (Though he never interrupted his lessons for anything, even if a student was breaking a rule.)

Despite the fact that she desperately needed some shut-eye, Iris found herself turning around to face the two behind her with a raised eyebrow. "What was it this time?"

"Why do you suspect that it was our fault?" Sirius inquired with a challenging smirk. Iris flashed him a matching smirk, however, there was a sly coating of flirtation that mingled in her brown eyes. If Sirius wasn't so thick, he would have noticed the obvious signs of teasing she displayed. Remus only seemed to be the one of them to notice, and he wasn't even the target of the girl's attention.

"Aren't most things your fault, darling?" Sirius rolled his eyes but his smirk didn't slip off of his face. He would have given a flirty rebuttal to her teasing statement if it wasn't for Remus jabbing him in the stomach. He glowered at his friend and pushed him back. Iris' shoulders sagged as she pouted, "you four went off and pranked someone didn't you?"

Sirius chuckled at her whining, "perhaps we did." He teased her as he arrogantly ran a hand through his hair. A few students at neighboring desks paused their note taking to watch the small conversation between the two Gryffindors.

As the school year had begun, it was a common occurrence to see the redheaded girl and grey-eyed boy tease each other mercilessly. However, most people enjoyed watching how Isis could really embarrass _the_ Sirius Black who was known to be a player throughout all of Hogwarts. They weren't completely sure how she could do it, as nobody could really do what she could, but they enjoyed it immensely. It was always entertaining to see their daily dose of a flustered Sirius and flirtatious Iris.

"So? Who was it?" Iris asked eagerly as she leaned onto their desk.

"We-" Remus decided to pause from his note taking, Professor Binns was speaking too fast to keep up and started to join in their conversation. He tried to explain to Iris that they had dealt with Lucius before he could follow her, but Sirius cleared his throat loudly before he could speak. Remus and Iris' eyebrows furrowed as they turned to the boy questionably.

"Just some stupid Slytherin, really." He coughed awkwardly. Remus shot him a confused expression and opened his mouth to answer Iris correctly, but stopped when Sirius returned his confusion with narrowed eyes. After seeing the look of suspicion yet compliance from his friend, Sirius nodded his head.

Why Sirius didn't want to tell Iris about what they did to Lucius puzzled Remus. He could only stare at him for a moment longer before turning back to his notes with a small shrug. He could only speculate why Sirius seemed to be adamant about not telling Iris about that morning, but he'll question him later. He had to worry about writing down the notes for the class because he knew that none of his other friends would write notes. They would no doubt want to copy off of him.

Iris eyed the two during their strange interaction. She had no idea what it meant, and she was curious. "That can't be all, can it?" She raised an eyebrow, "come on! I need some more details about it!"

Sirius pursed his lips and raised his head high as he tried to resist the spark in Iris' eye. He would definitely just end up telling her about that morning if he even looked into her eyes! Which was why he wasn't looking at her. He decided to take an interest in watching James trying to woo Lily at the table next to them instead. Sirius had seen him trying to do that for the past four years and had watched James try far too many methods to get Lily's attention. However, at that moment, he was far better off watching them than possibly crumbling under Iris' questioning stare. Merlin, he could melt under her intense stares!

"Just a Slytherin, like I said. He pissed us off earlier and we dealt with him."

Iris pouted childishly and huffed. She had a feeling that Sirius wasn't telling her everything about why they were late, but she'd let it slide for the moment. She would probably force the other boys to tell her about it after class. She tsked and shook her head, "alright, I'll buy that, for now." She let her calculating eyes drift over the boy for a second before turning in her seat to face forward. She would worry about it later and see if she could squeeze an answer out of either him or the others later.

In all honesty, Sirius was extremely nervous about what Iris may feel about the altercation they had with Lucius. He swallowed thickly. He had a feeling that Iris would be annoyed and angry at what they had done.

They stood up to Lucius for her. Now, some people may look at that as a nice gesture. However, he knew Iris, and she would not completely appreciate their actions. She would definitely take it as them thinking she was unable to stand up for herself. Iris Evans was an arrogant, prideful and proud girl. If she found out that they had stepped in and threatened Lucius to stay away from her… There wasn't any way to tell what Iris would do.

Sirius remembered a conversation that he had with her a few nights ago.

"_I just hate feeling weak, I suppose," she said and wrung her fingers together as she stared at them with interest. It was obvious to Sirius that she was somewhat uncomfortable with opening up so much to him, but his heart warmed at the fact that she felt close enough to him to reveal this part of her. He appreciated that they had become close friends like this. She chuckled, "always have, always will. I like fighting my own battles."_

Had Sirius taken her words to heart that morning? No. Should he have at least considered and replayed her words in his head before they started to torment Lucius? Yes, but Sirius wasn't usually a person who thought before he acted. Especially when he had James egging him on.

In the beginning, Sirius had a fantasy of being like Iris' "knight in shining armor" and saving Iris from the slimy, vicious snakes, Lucius and Regulus. He had thought that if he threatened them enough they would listen to him and leave Iris alone. In turn, Iris would then thank him profusely for his heroic act and it would all end like one of the muggle movies he had seen in the past. You know, the ones with the happy endings where the prince got his princess.

But he seemed to forget that Iris wasn't a damsel in distress. She was far from it! Unlike the princesses that he had seen in those movies, who whined and screamed for someone to save them, Iris could fight for herself. He had even witnessed her battling with "thugs", as she referenced them, and beating each one of them.

He gazed at his redheaded princess as she rested on her desk. She was obviously trying to take a nap for the time being. He smirked lightly. Iris Evans is like no other girl he had ever encountered. Merlin, he loved that!

* * *

"Just be glad we were given detention for tonight!" Remus glowered as he and his three friends strolled through the halls. His shoulders were tense as he started to rant about the close call they had. "If Professor McGonagall had given us detention for tomorrow-"

James cut him off, "don't worry Moony, we got detention for tonight, not tomorrow, so stop worrying about it." The group of boys halted at one of the window seats in the hallway. Remus plopped onto the seat in exasperation as James and Sirius sat on his sides and squashed him slightly. The halls were nearly empty except for the occasional lost first year or other students who had free period like the boys. Their History of Magic class had ended a few minutes ago and they had all bolted out of the class as fast as they could. That may have been due to a certain grey-eyed boy who didn't want to be confronted by his red-headed beauty once again.

The others were confused as to why he was so adamant about leaving, but he barely gave a clear reason why they had to leave so quickly. They followed him out just as fast and they did noticed how Iris tried to speak with him. It was strange to see him giving up the chance to speak with her. Of course, Remus had taken the liberty of explaining what had happened during class. However, Sirius had made them drop the subject. He didn't want them to know why he didn't want to tell Iris about that morning. He wasn't sure how they would react. On one hand, they might have just teased him for acting like a softy, or they would call him a pansy for being afraid of how Iris would take it. But could you blame him? Iris had proven to be a scary person. Sometimes she had even been scarier than Lily! (Which they didn't think was possible.)

Remus huffed and Sirius slung an arm around his slightly taller friend. "Our night out isn't going to be ruined by a night of writing lines or cleaning without magic."

"Besides we didn't plan on doing anything for tonight," Peter pitched in. Sometimes the chubby boy had been forgotten about in their small group of friends. If he was to disappear at any point, nobody would notice. It was quite sad, really.

"Well, _we_ don't," James smirked slyly. "It looks like your date with your lovely Iris will have to be canceled tonight, eh, Padfoot?"

Sirius rolled his eyes as he tried his best not to show how flustered he felt. "Shut it, Prongs!" He was slightly disheartened by the fact that he and Iris wouldn't get to have their annual meeting that night. The comfort and acceptance that Iris seemed to provide him each and every night they spoke to each other was fantastic. He had to admit, that when he first met Iris, he saw her as a pretty girl that he thought he could have fun with before moving on to the next. (Which made him realize how much of a dick he really was.) However, as time went by and he continued to talk to her… She had become something far more than just a pretty face to him.

Yes, she was beautiful and ultimately one of the most alluring girls he had ever laid eyes on. But she had proved to be intelligent, passionate, as troublesome as himself, and, in a few ways, caring. He enjoyed her company and looked forward to their time together at night. When they spoke it gave him the opportunity to find a refuge that he hadn't found before. Sure, he spoke to James, Remus, and Peter about some things… He wasn't sure why, but Iris gave him a far deeper feeling of acceptance. Perhaps it was the fact that she was the first girl to be so forward with him? He wasn't sure.

"You don't have to be so down, Paddy," James teased in a baby voice. "You'll get your alone time with your precious Iris tomorrow." It was strange to see James teasing Sirius about a girl as it was usually the other way around. It was always James who was whipped by Lily Evans for the past few years and was teased relentlessly by the boys. There were times, only a few when both Remus and Peter were teased for their crushes, but it was always James who was teased because of his obsession with Lily.

"No, you won't," Peter started as he stood next to the other three. His eyebrows were furrowed as he questioned how short of an attention span they had seeing as they were just speaking about tomorrow. "We're going to help Remus tomorrow night with-"

"With what?"

The four boys jumped at the sudden voice and turned to see their redheaded friend standing behind Peter with her arms crossed and head tilted. Her eyes were filled with curiosity and a flame that they easily recognized as a silent threat. Her entire demeanor screamed 'tell me before I beat it out of you'.

"W-with my homework!" Remus exclaimed quickly. He cringed once the words left his lips as he realized how unrealistic the lie sounded.

"Them? Help you? _The_ Remus Lupin with homework?" Iris scoffed as she rested a hand on her hips and arched an eyebrow, "come now, do you think I'm stupid?" The boys all shook their heads violently at the low tone of her voice.

"No!"

"'Course not!"

"Not at all!"

"What gave you that idea, love?"

She could tell how fearful they were of her. Actually, she liked the fact that she held superiority over them, especially at times like these. She tutted, "then why did you lie?"

The four of them shared a small glance with each other. Their eyes were all wide with fear as they realized there was no way to hide the truth from Iris. You couldn't hide a lie from a well-trained liar, after all. Iris watched them in silence for a moment. They seemed to have a silent conversation with each other for a moment. Her eyes were narrowed as she watched the panicked expressions consume their facial features.

"We're just working on a plan tomorrow," James started to explain calmly. "We were going to do it tonight, but you know, we've detention now…"

Remus latched onto that lie, "yeah, we didn't want to tell you… because it was a prank on you!"

They all had averted their eyes from her in hopes of hiding the truth from her and squirmed. She didn't need to know the reason they lied. She had become a good friend to each of them, but Remus was still reluctant to reveal the biggest secret that all of them had to keep for such a long time. When the time was right, then they may tell her about his "hairy little secret", but, until then, they would have to keep her in the dark.

Iris' eyebrows furrowed as she stared down each of the boys. "Then… Why are you telling me now?" The skepticism that was in her voice was evident and the narrowing of her brown eyes only solidified that fact.

Sirius gulped as he decided to take the lead on the conversation. He was the best liar out of the four of them after all. "We just know that you would have tried to beat it out of us, we're saving you the energy and us the pain." He ran a hand through his hair as he smirked arrogantly at her while trying to hide the lie.

Iris rolled her eyes at his words. She could see through his words as they tried to deceive her for Iris wasn't easily fooled. However, they didn't know that.

"Oh," she tried to display an expression of mock surprise while hiding the mischief that wanted to break out. "So what were you going to do, huh? Should I still be on the lookout for a prank coming my way?" At that point, she was just teasing them and seeing how far they would go with their lie.

The boys, once again, shared a panicked look and they all tried to come up with something. They all began to spew out their own excuses which caused their voices to overlap each other. Iris looked between all of the boys with a smirk as she watched them scramble for some sort of singular lie to follow.

Eventually, after listening to their jumbled words for a few minutes, Iris shook her head and giggled. "Don't worry, you don't have to tell me your master plan," she waved her hand, "I'll just leave you to plot against me, I guess." She bid the boys goodbye, spun on her heels and strutted away from them.

They all watched her go and sighed in relief as they thought she had bought their lie. Why didn't they realize that Iris was smart enough to spot their lie faster than they could say "Quidditch"? Only Merlin knows.

* * *

It was midday and almost every student had arrived at the Great Hall for lunch. There were a few students missing who, no doubt, didn't feel like eating and instead decided to hang out outside as they basked in the warm September sun that peaked from behind the fluffy clouds. In the midst of the gossip throw around the tables and students divulging themselves in their lunches, Wendy and Lily watched as their two friends seemingly inhale their food. They both found it to be grotesque and impressive. How could they both eat so fast?!

"Iris," Wendy started, in hopes of stopping Iris' quick eating. "Why did you seem so adamant about talking with Sirius after History of Magic?"

Iris swallowed her large bite of food and sighed, "I'm quite sure that Sirius tried to lie to me during class."

"About what?" Lily asked, intrigued.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I asked him why they were late to History of Magic and Remus _was_ going to tell me-"

"But Sirius cut him off," Marlene decided to cut with a spoon still in her mouth. She was present when it happened and she too knew that Sirius seemed to be hiding something from Iris. She rubbed her chin in thought as she started to speculate, "why do you think he did?"

"No clue, but I feel like I can get it out of him eventually," She stared off in the distance as a few ideas popped into her head. She smirked as her eyes became lit with mischief. "Probably by tonight."

The girls all sighed at the obvious indication that Iris was going to get up to no good. They could also see the boys trying to get their revenge against her on a later date. They could only hope that they weren't caught in the crossfire.

Iris smirked as she stuffed a loaf of bread into her mouth. Her eyes traveled to the entrance of the Great Hall when her smirk seemingly widened around the loaf, _speak of the devil and he shall appear_. At the entrance of the hall was Sirius Black himself. It seemed that Sirius was also looking for someone as she could tell from his eyes survey across the entire hall. Iris had a feeling that it was her.

Sirius lazily trotted down the aisle of the Great Hall in the direction of the Gryffindor table. He earned a few greetings from fellow Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and of course, none from Slytherin. There were specifically a lot of female students who watched him with batted eyelashes and rosy cheeks. He had barely given them a small greeting, much to their dismay, before continuing on his way towards the end of the Gryffindor table where Iris was sitting.

"Hello, ladies," he arrogantly greeted the girls has he stood behind Iris and Wendy.

Lily arched a delicate eyebrow, "what do you want, Black?"

He flashed her a large smile, "can I not come to visit my friends?"

All of the girls shared an incredulous look with each other, "you're acting nice…" Marlene observed with narrow and suspicious eyes. "What did you do?"

Sirius placed a hand on his heart and scoffed, "honestly, Mckinnon! You say that as if all I do is cause trouble!"

"Isn't that all you do?" Iris asked as she mocked confusion before she bursted out laughing.

Sirius smiled at her antics and shook his head while leaning onto her shoulder. "The same can be said about you, love." He slyly whispered to her. At the close proximity of the boy, Iris' stomach did somersaults, but she tried to brush it off. She wasn't paying attention to the way that goosebumps enveloped her entire body as it also started to heat up significantly. She didn't care about that at all. No way! If anything it was only… confusing her further. "I came over to talk with you, actually." Sirius' voice broke her out of her internal perplexity which caused her to try and process what he had said. She may have been too caught up in her internal conflict that she didn't comprehend what Sirius had just said.

However, when she saw the expectant looks of her friends and Sirius, she cleared her throat. "Yes? About what?" She licked her lips as she hoped they didn't notice how she froze at the closeness of the boy. "I hope it's about the blatant lie that you told me this morning…"

Sirius shook his head as he could see her not giving that topic up. After only a few days of knowing her, he had learned that she was a very stubborn person. Possibly far more stubborn than even James Potter! "No," He flashed her a saucy smirk, "it's about tonight…" He trailed off as he watched Iris smirk as well.

The both of them could see the slightly disturbed looks on the girls around them as they thought about what exactly the two were really getting up to at night. Though they really didn't want to know what the two mischievous troublemakers got up to at night… by themselves.

Iris raised her hand and gripped Sirius' red and gold tie while bringing him down closer to her height. Sirius was instantly able to smell the mixture of lavender and vanilla that was distinctly Iris. "I suppose we'll need some more… privacy, darling."

Sirius cleared his throat as he willed away the blush that threatened to break out across his cheekbones and neck. He had gotten far better over the past two months at hiding his constant blushing due to Iris' words and actions. He also had mastered his control over his flustered appearance each time butterflies swarmed in his stomach whenever he was near her. By 'mastered' it usually meant that he was able to control his emotions enough around her only to have them spill over whenever he was in the dorms where he would babble on and on about his love for her to his friends. Each and every day he was becoming more like James and falling farther and farther for the redhead.

"Come on," Sirius squeaked out and tried to scuttle away from the group of girls while trying to keep his composer but failing just a tad bit.

Iris rolled his eyes at his actions while Lily, Wendy, and Marlene giggled with each other. It always amused them, along with many other students, how Iris had such an effect on Sirius. It was refreshing to see the boy who always flaunted around the school arrogantly with a suffocating amount of ignorance following him everywhere he went like a cloud reduced to a puddle each time Iris was around him.

Her friends watched as Iris slowly rose from her seat and followed Sirius out of the Great Hall. They could hear the light snickers that followed them out as they watched Sirius fumble on his feet to exit the hall. Iris revealed in the slight humiliation that she brought Sirius and loved the attention it gave her in return.

The two had finally exited the Great Hall and Sirius took the lead in order to led Iris to someplace no prying ears could hear them. Soon enough, after only a few minutes of walking in silence, they finally found an empty corridor with no ickle first years lurking around the corner to see the two fifth years converse.

Sirius gnawed at his lip as Iris delicately sat down at one of the window seats that showcase a view of the grounds. They could both see the tall trees of varying species in the Forbidden Forest, the glistening waters of the Black Lake and the undisturbed grass that swayed in the light breeze. They marveled in the sight for only a moment before Sirius took the initiative to speak first.

"If you haven't already found out, the boys and I have detention tonight."

Iris nodded her head, "yeah, which you got this morning after dealing with a Slytherin that you don't seem to want to tell me about…" Iris eyed him skeptically and tried to see if he would crack under her stare.

He bit his bottom lip and looked away from her as he saw the burning in her eyes. Once again, he wasn't going to let her know what they had done that morning in fear of her reaction. Perhaps he would tell her at some point, but this was not the time. "It wasn't anything really, it's just that we won't get to have our little… Midnight rendezvous tonight."

Iris' eyebrows furrowed. She had suspected that they wouldn't get the chance to have their little midnight talk that night due to his detention. Of course, she knew that at some point either one of them would receive a detention that would interfere with their new found tradition. It was surprising to just about everyone that the two hadn't received a detention until now. Of course, Iris had gotten one the day she decided to prank the entire student body, but that was before they had found themselves engaging in a ritual each night. It seemed like they had tried their best to avoid receiving detention due to the fact they would interfere with their midnight talks. (Which Lily praised her sister for and James complained about to Sirius.)

They had found something that they didn't want to miss out on with each other and they cherished that immensely, even if it had only been a few weeks. It had been so constant that other Gryffindors had a silent agreement that nights in the common room were reserved for only the two of them.

Iris couldn't help the sinking feeling that enveloped her stomach which made it feel like there was a pit in her gut. She swallowed thickly. Why did she feel so… upset? "I know… I figured that out on my own, darling." She could hear her own voice leak an emotion that she wasn't all too familiar with. She sounded disappointed with the news. Though she wasn't the only one who was crestfallen with the development.

Sirius was especially disheartened with the fact that he wouldn't be able to have their annual midnight talk, but he knew that it was inevitable. He could survive one night without speaking with his beloved Iris for one night, right? But what about the next night!? It was going to be a full moon and he is needed with the boys to help with Remus. It seems that Sirius would have to survive _two_ nights without Iris.

Said redhead noticed the way Sirius' eyes widened slightly as he stared out the window in thought. She restlessly played with her fingers as she studied Sirius with a keen eye. "What were you and the boys talking about earlier?"

Sirius' head snapped towards her as she watched him with curious eyes. He swallowed, "just a plan for tomorrow night is all."

Iris nodded her head sarcastically, "oh, yes, the prank you plan on pulling on me." She huffed and rolled her eyes, "I can see a lie from a mile away, darling," she stated with pointed eyes that bored into the boy in front of her. "Now, are you going to keep lying, or…"

Sirius sighed, "Iris… You should know I hate lying to you, but you need to trust me on this."

"So is it some sort of guy thing? That's why you can't tell me?" Iris sassed. She hated not knowing things, especially if they involved the people she considered her friends. Iris just isn't someone who enjoys being left out.

Sirius smiled sheepishly and nodded his head. "Yes, I'm sorry, Iris." It wasn't a lie. Tomorrow was definitely just a night for himself, James, Remus, and Peter. It was the night where they would prance around the grounds of their school in their animagus forms in order to help Remus in his beastly werewolf form. Ever since the boys had figured out how to become animagi a little over a year ago, they had decided to accompany Remus at night. They had seen how being locked in the Shrieking Shack affected their dear friend, and the boys wanted to figure out a way to lessen his pain. Eventually, they read about animagi and figured out how to transform into them. It seemed like a far-fetched plan at the time, but it worked!

Iris shrugged her shoulders and pursed her lips, "you could have just told me it was a thing just between you and the other boys this morning. I would have accepted that."

"You would?" He thought that she would have at least fought a little bit more to find out the complete truth from him. He just didn't know that Iris accepted his half-truth because she realized that it was something she didn't need to know about. It was quite obvious to her that whatever the boys were really doing was something exclusively for them. She suspected that they hadn't been friends long enough for her to be let in on their secret or if she ever would be let in.

"Yeah, I definitely wouldn't want to be apart of your weird blood brother ritual or whatever you boys do." Sirius scowled as Iris laughed at the irritated look on his face.

Eventually, Iris calmed down enough and they both started a different conversation. As Iris sat on the window seat and stared at Sirius from under her eyelashes, Sirius leaned against the wall next to her as he looked away from her. The seemingly downhearted feeling that had enveloped the both of them earlier had slowly been ebbed away as they started to talk to each other.

Sirius tossed around lame pick-up lines while Iris threw back her own provocative rebuttals with a kittenish tone. Soon enough, after a long conversation full of playful banter, the corridors were filled with students who came out of the Great Hall in order to head to their next class. There were only two more lessons of the day, which for Iris and Sirius was Herbology and Transfigurations. They headed to their class and spoke with each other animatedly. As soon as they passed the threshold of the greenhouse they were pulled in two opposite directions.

Sirius was dragged away by James, Remus, and Peter towards their seat as they started to question what exactly he had spoken to Iris about. He had to assure them that he didn't tell Iris about Remus' 'hairy little secret'. Why they would assume that he would spew out their most well-kept secret to her baffled him. However, they had already seen how he became puddy in Iris' hands each time they spoke. They had a slightly sickening feeling that Iris had used her charm on Sirius and forced the secret out of him.

On the other side of the room, Iris was also receiving the same amount of interrogation. Her friends instantly started to ask her what Sirius had talked to her about. They wanted all of the details, well not _all_ of the detail. They didn't want to hear about some… disturbing information about what Iris and Sirius could have been getting up to. Knowing Iris, she wouldn't have a problem delving deep into all the dirty details between herself and Sirius.

However, both of the group interrogations were cut short when Professor Beery bounded into the room happily and started to speak excitedly about what lesson she would be teaching. Of course, Iris and Sirius were able to share a glance with a smirk at each other.

* * *

The blanket of darkness graced itself across the landscape of the Hogwarts. The waning gibbous gazed down on the cool ground as the students all settled down for bed. There were a few who were trying their best to finish some last minute homework for the next day or a few students who were trying to sneak out of their dorms that night only to be caught by the prefects.

At that moment, Iris was curled up on the armchair in the common room. Like always, the fireplace was alive with flames that ate away at the wood hungrily. Iris yawned as the flames calmed her down. Just because Sirius was unable to accompany her in the common room that night, didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy her time alone downstairs.

She sighed in pleasure as she reveled in the warmth the fire provided her. As November started to roll in, the temperature was starting to fall down farther and farther. It was only a matter of time when snow started to fall from the sky at some point. Iris wasn't a complete fan of the cold, but she would endure the frigid climates if she had to.

While she relished in the comfort she was smothered in, she didn't notice the redhead who looked almost exactly like her tiptoeing down the steps. Lily raised an eyebrow as she found her sister sitting in the common room by herself. She watched her sister for a moment in silence with her eyebrows furrowed. After she had found that her sister was missing from their dorm, Lily decided to venture down and see where she had wandered off to. She wasn't sure if Iris had gone off and decided to pull a prank or do _something_ that would get her in trouble.

However, the anxiety she felt about finding out her sister had created chaos diminished when she saw Iris huddled in the armchair. She crossed the room and moved to stand in front of Iris. When the light that emanated from the fireplace was obscured by a figure in front of her, Iris looked up to be faced with the inquisitive stare of her twin.

"Hey, Lily." Iris yawned and smiled lightly towards her sister.

"Why aren't you up in the dorm?" Her sister asked suspiciously.

Iris shrugged her shoulders, "I didn't feel like staying upstairs, I suppose." To be honest, she wasn't completely sure why she had gone downstairs. After she had gotten dressed in her night clothes, Iris found herself stepping down the stairs towards the common room. Perhaps she just so used to going down there at night that she had done it subconsciously.

Lily nodded her head and sat down on the armrest of the couch next to her sister. The twins sat in silence as they watched the fire together. They enjoyed each others company for a few moments. Despite the two of them being sisters, they didn't necessarily spend too much time together. When the two first started their schooling they were sent to separate schools and had only communicated through letters. Then in the summer, Lily had spent her time with the muggle children in their neighborhood while Iris was inside reading different wizarding books or scheming her own pranks for that coming school year. In those first few years, they spent a short amount of time with each other while always hanging out with Severus.

However, it seemed that now they were attending the same school, they were getting closer to each other. Even though they never had drifted from each other at all from those few years separated for long periods of times. That could be due to the time they spent over vacations during the school year, specifically Christmas.

"Iris?"

Said girl hummed tiredly while turning to face her sister, "yeah?"

Lily smiled softly at the tired demeanor of her twin and leaned forward to lightly ask her; "Why are you really down here?"

Iris took a moment to think, "I guess I'm so use to coming down here that I did it without thinking." The two of them lightly chuckled at her admission, "I'm just so use to being down here-"

"With Sirius?" Lily interjected slyly. She watched Iris bite her lip and turn away to face the fire again. Lily couldn't help but notice her reaction to even the mention of his name. She chuckled, "I feel like you're clueless to the obvious."

Iris snapped back to look at Lily as her brown eyes narrowed, "what's obvious?"

_Merlin_, Lily thought, _how thick is she?_ She sighed in exasperation, "he has fallen for you, Iris!"

Iris' eyes widened as Lily's words smacked her in the face. She tried her damndest to hide the blush that rose onto her cheeks as the thought started to process through her mind. She huffed hotly while rolling her eyes. "Oh, Merlin-"

"He has, Iris!" Lily exclaimed loudly before clearing her throat and lowering her voice. "I've known him for years now and I can tell that he is in love with you!" She tried to keep her voice down, but her teasing tone had only caused her voice to come out slightly louder than she anticipated.

Iris scoffed as she glared at Lily slightly. In love? Her sister was completely delusional! "Lil, I think you've been reading too many romance novels." Sirius Black was not _in love_ with her!

"Just think about it," Lily urged, "he stutters when he talks to, he blushes when you're around him, he's always trying to get your attention…" She trailed off and looked at her sister expectantly as she waited for her to catch on to her point. Lily had always noticed how Sirius acted around Iris which was completely uncharacteristic of him. It was like the roles were reversed for him. He was suddenly becoming the blushing mess each time Iris was even in the same room as him. It was so easy to embarrass him or humiliate him nowadays… It was like Iris' presence was turning his entire life upside down. Of course, Lily, not to mention just about everyone else, noticed how he had been affected. Lily wasn't sure if Iris truly knew the extent of her power over the boy.

Iris stared at Lily blankly and displayed a calm, confused expression. Despite her emotion on the outside, on the inside, she was truly flustered by their conversation topic. "Yes, I know. But he does that to any other girl, right? I've heard your stories of how he pursues a girl for some time, shags her and finds another girl to fawn over." Her statement formed a hole in her chest that caused her to falter slightly in her words. Did the aspect of Sirius paying more attention to another girl other than herself upset Iris? No, not at all! It wasn't like the thought of Sirius running off to find a girl who was far more interesting than her bothered her the slightest bit. Sirius and her didn't have a relationship that tied themselves together. He was allowed to go off with any girl he wanted and she was allowed to go after any boy she wanted… Then why did she dread that thought?

Lily continued on, "but this is different, he never acts like this. He's always the confident one! Yet, now, he's the one that's always embarrassed." Lily was a complete romantic. She loved getting involved with other people's love life, specifically Iris' love life. Iris couldn't count the number of times Lily had tried to set Iris up with one of the muggle boys that lived in their neighborhood.

Iris shook her head, "you're reading into this far too much, Lil."

Lily threw back her head in exasperation as she cursed her sister internally for being clueless. She slumped into her seat as she studied the way her sister refused to look in her direction. Her eyes widened in realization, "Oh my, Merlin! You fancy him as well, don't you?!"

Iris' head snapped at her sister with wide and terrified eyes, "Lily!" Her heartbeat rose to a fast rate as she shook her head rapidly. "I've known him only a few months! You expect me to fancy someone after only a few months!"

"Yes." Her tone was completely bland as she believed her statement completely. The more she thought about it, the more she started to notice how Iris really acted around the boy. Like normal, Iris had been thoroughly enjoying the fact that she had such a tight grip on Sirius' feelings. Ever since Iris had the understanding of romantic feelings, she had loved messing with other people's feelings. It was slightly mean and cruel, but Lily couldn't really do anything to stop her. However, now it seemed that Iris had also developed feelings for the boy she had decided to play around with.

"That's it," Iris commented as she tried to calm herself down. She uncurled herself from the armchair and tried to move away from her twin who was watching her with a smirk. She scurried around the couch as Lily rose from her spot and watched her sister seemingly panic. "I'm going to bed!" Iris announced flustered as she quickly dashed out of the common room and tried to get up the stairs frantically.

Lily watched her sister nearly slip up the stairs and fall on her face as she tried to get away. She shook her head and chuckled at the distressed reaction Iris had to her words. She shook her head with a small smile. Now, Lily wasn't sure how to feel about the relationship that was blossoming between her sister and _Sirius Black_, but she was glad that Iris was seemingly succumbing to her own feelings. She had been waiting such a long time for something like this to happen! She skipped up the stairs to their dorm room to find all the girls already asleep as Iris tried to hide under the covers.

Lily let out a quiet laugh as she crawled into her bed. Now that Lily was certain that Iris was starting to develop feelings for a boy, she was going to make it her mission to… Push Iris in the right direction. Merlin...


	6. The First Hogsmeade Trip

**SMALL, SPARKLING SPECKS OF ICY SNOWFLAKES BLANKETED** the ground like a soft, fluffy duvet. The early Saturday morning was no different from any other Saturday at Hogwarts. Almost all of the students had decided to sleep in after having such a tiring school week. However, there were a few outliers who had decided actually wake up at a reasonable time. One of these outliers, not surprisingly, was Lily, of course.

She was already dressed in a warm jumper with jeans as she sat on her bed and read a book. She was trying to get a head start on her studies and homework for the weekend. Because Lily Evans was anything but a procrastinator. Wendy had woken up as well though she had yet to change out of her nightclothes and it didn’t seem like she was willing to get out of bed at that moment.

Both Marlene and Iris were still sleeping soundly in their beds. The scarlet blankets swallowed both of their sleepy forms as they were deep in their pleasant dreams. If it was a school day, both girls would find themselves on the receiving end of Lily’s infamous wake-up calls and drenched in water for sleeping in so late. However, on the weekends, Lily allowed her friends to sleep in for a while as long as they didn’t have something to do in the morning.

There were no Quidditch games that they had to attend or any “study sessions” in the library Lily usually forced them to go to on the weekends. Though as ten o’clock grew closer, Lily began to grow restless as she waited for her sister and friend to wake up. She tapped her slim fingers against the hardcover of her transfigurations textbook as she watched the two girls snore in their beds.

“Are you goin’ to just going to stare at them?” Wendy asked as she finally stood up from her bed and stretched. “Or wake them up? If we want to get to the carriages on time, they need to wake up.”

All the girls had agreed that they wanted to go to Hogsmeade the night before. Lily was extremely excited to show Iris around the small village down the hill from Hogwarts. She hadn’t been able to do it before because Iris had detention just about every weekend! She always cursed her sister’s knack of getting into trouble, and Lily also blamed the Marauders for enabling Iris and her past time. However, Iris hadn’t received any detentions from their professors which meant she was free to hang out with them in Hogsmeade.

Lily sighed and flashed Wendy a sheepish smile, “would you mind waking up Iris…?”

“And deal with her?” Wendy asked sarcastically with a scoff, “No.”

Iris proved to be a right terror in the mornings, and the girls never wanted to deal with her. On school days, they were usually able to deal with her with the Aguamenti charm and force her to get ready. However, the weekends were days where Iris never wanted to get up, and she proved to be a tough challenge for her roommates.

“Fine, I’ll do it!” Lily huffed and tossed her textbook onto her bed. She climbed off her bed and over to her sister’s bed. She shook Iris’ shoulders roughly, “come on, Iris. Get your arse out of bed!” Iris barley rolled over in her bed as she continued to snore loudly while she slept. Lily glared at her twin hotly. Curse her sister’s inability to be woken up! “I swear to Merlin, Iris.” She sternly said but received only a loud snore in reply. Lily rolled her eyes before ripping the covers off Iris to hopefully shock her awake. She didn’t want to use the water charm on Iris again. The reason being that it was a pain to deal with Iris as she moaned and groaned about being soaked. 

“Go away…” Iris sleepily whispered as she stuffed her face into her pillow to shield herself from her sister as she no longer had her comfy blankets to hide under. She would be damned if Lily didn’t let her sleep in for a while longer. All week she had to deal with Mcgonagall’s rigorous lessons, Slughorn's energetic personality and Lily’s incessant nagging about school work. She was entitled to at least fifteen more minutes of peaceful sleep. 

“No,” Lily sasses and began trying to pull Iris out of her bed. “We all agreed to go to Hogsmeade today and to do that we have to take the carriages!”

Iris moaned out in protest, “I want to sleep!”

“Oh, get up!” This time Wendy chimed in from the doorway of the bathroom with her clothes in hand.

Iris grumbled as she knew that not only Lily but the rest of the girls would not leave her alone. “I wish I didn’t agree to anything.” She grunted as she started to regret ever agreeing to spend the day with her friends in Hogsmeade. All she wanted was to sleep! However, her friends seemed adamant about socializing outside. 

She glanced out the window next to her bed and groaned once again. She had a perfect view of the small, light snowflakes that fluttered down to the ground like white leaves. She shivered at even the thought of it being cold outside. Iris hated the cold. Plain and simple. She hated how her clothes became heavy and wet from the snow and how the wind always found a way to lick her skin even though she was covered head to toe!

“Stop moping and get changed, we’ll miss breakfast!” Lily ordered after seeing that Iris had succumbed to the fact that she was awake and not going back to sleep. At the mention of missing the most important meal of the day, Iris trudged out of her bed and towards her trunk to rummage through her things for an acceptable outfit. All the while, she grumbled and hissed under her breath about how her stupid friends were forcing her out of bed.

* * *

Now wearing a gold and red jumper with a thick scarf wrapped around her neck and a pair of jeans, Iris followed after her small group of friends as they all entered the Great Hall. It was obvious that not every student had come down for breakfast as they slept in and Iris envied the fact that they got to enjoy more sleep than her. They all sat at the Gryffindor table and started to pile their plates with breakfast. 

Iris had just started to lazily stuff her mouth with some bacon when her friends started to gush about their day later on. They began to speak animatedly about showing Iris all around the village. There were a few stores that peaked Iris’ interest like Dervish and Banges, Honeydukes Sweetshop and, of course, Zonko’s Joke Shop. However, she dreaded having to go into Madam Puddifoot’s tea shop. Hopefully, at some point she could escape their clutches and explore on her own. She had heard a few stories about the creepy, infamous Shrieking Shack.

She had heard the older students trying to scare the ickle first years with the legend of screeching that echoed from the abandoned building. Iris had to admit, there were a few times when she thought she heard, what must have been, inhuman wails from the shack during the night. She was extremely curious to find out what exactly could be screaming and why.

“...And it’s perfect outside, what with the snow.” Marlene’s comment drew Iris’ attention at the mention of the snow. 

She scoffed and glared at the brown-hair girl, “don’t mention the _snow_.”

The three other girls turned to the redhead with furrowed eyebrows. There was no denying the venom that dripped from her mouth as she spoke the word. “Why not?” Wendy asked.

Iris shook her head, “‘cause it’s… snow!” She flailed her arms slightly as if she had made the clearest argument about her obvious dislike for snow.

“What’s wrong with snow?” Marlene asked.

Lily sighed, “Iris hates the snow.” Ever since they were little, Iris had a strong distaste for the cold. Summer was her favorite season while winter was her least favorite. Lily could remember when they still attended a muggle school and Iris would refuse to go outdoors and play with any of the other children. While Lily enjoyed going outside and building snow forts, snowmen and having snowball fights with their muggle friends, Iris loved to stay as far away from the snow as she possibly could. 

“Hate the snow?!”

Iris rolled her eyes at her friends confused exclamation. “I hate the snow. So what?” She grumbled while trying to hide herself in her Gryffindor-styled scarf.

“‘So what?’ how can someone _hate_ snow?” Wendy asked completely flabbergasted as there was clear disbelief flooding her eyes. She thought that it was completely unfathomable to even have a slight dislike for snow. Yes, she could admit that there were some downfalls to snow. During winter, you were more susceptible to getting sick due to the cold. There was also the fact that after a fun filled day playing in the snow, your clothes would be complete soaked and could be an inconvenience to deal with. The more she thought about it, she could understand why someone would dislike the cold.

“I just do, okay,” Iris shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t like the cold and the snow is _extremely_ cold.”

Lily shook her head at her sister, “well, you’ll have to deal with it. You’re not getting out of today.”

Iris groaned and slumped in her seat, “please!” 

“You’re whining isn’t going to help you.” Lily sung as she started to eat her own breakfast.

“Begging might,” the arrogant voice of Sirius invaded their conversation as he sat himself next to Iris. His smirk was blinding the girls as they each flashed him an unimpressed expression at his remark. He leaned in close to the girl and continued on in a husky voice, “though I suppose you can beg to _me_ for… something.”

Iris bit her lip and turned to him as she tried to keep in her snickers, “I think you’ll be the one begging for me not to stop-”

“Okay!” Remus exclaimed in order to stop the conversation that would more than likely continue between the two flirtatious teens. He was certain that nobody wanted to hear the rest of their conversation at all. For the entirety of the school year so far, they all had to endure the chats between their two overly playful friends. They always tried to outdo each other with flirts but Sirius was always the one to fall on his feet due to Iris’ quick rebuttals. Though he had to admit that that aspects of their verbal battles were quite entertaining. “Let’s talk about something different!”

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, “are you girls headed down to Hogsmeade?” James asked them.

“Yeah, we’re goin’ to show Iris around,” Marlene commented as they all continued to eat their breakfasts. The bustle of the Great Hall started to pick up as a few more students started to come down for food. It was obvious that most of the older students were getting ready to go to Hogsmeade while the first and second years moped about not being able to go.

Despite the fact that she wasn’t looking forward to going outside, Iris was giddy about actually spending time with her friends outside of school. Every weekend, she either had to polish trophies without magic during the day, copy lines from her transfiguration textbook, or help Hagrid with some work close to the Forbidden Forest. (Helping Hagrid was always her favorite detention to serve.) She was _actually_ looking forward to hang out with Wendy, Marlene and Lily.

* * *

The carriage ride to Hogsmeade was pleasant enough as the girls had all piled into one along with a few other students they knew. Iris spoke with some fellow classmates including an older student named Frank and his girlfriend Alice. The ride was short as it was only to the bottom of the mountain which meant that their conversations didn’t last too long. Even if Iris wanted to to continue talking to the older students, she couldn’t due to Marlene quickly pulling her away.

Her three friends started to drag her around the small village. Iris wasn’t completely happy with where she was forced to go. At least they went into Honeydukes to get some sweets otherwise Iris would have gone insane! 

Of course, later on the girls were getting cold and wanted to go inside for a drink of something warm. Iris would have loved to go inside to shield herself from the flakes of snow that invaded her personal space. However, she wasn’t particularly thrilled that the shop that Wendy, Lily and Marlene wanted to go into was Madam Puddifoot’s tea shop. 

Her feet dragged on the snow covered cobblestone ground as the small group of girls headed towards the tea shop. Iris could tell that she wasn’t going to like the tea shop in the slightest bit. As soon as they stepped through the threshold of the shop they were all bombarded with the aroma of warm tea. There were a few tables inside the shop that were already taken by students from Hogwarts. A few of them looked to be dreading their presence in there just as Iris was. She could tell that really only the girliest of girls came to Madam Puddifoot’s. (Them and their boyfriends they forced to go with them.)

“It’s freezing out there.” Lily commented as she pulled her sweater closer to her while sitting down at one of the empty tables. It was obvious that the wind chill was still affecting her even though they had finally entered the shop.

“Nothing like some tea to warm us up, right?” Wendy pitched in as she sat down.

Iris sighed, “why couldn’t we’ve gone to the Three Broomsticks? This place is far to…” she looked around the small shop with a grimace, “pink for my liking.” Every wall was painted in the obnoxiously bright color and the longer Iris stared at it, she was starting to get a headache.

“We don’t go to the Three Broomsticks that much because the Marauders love to hang around in there.” Marlene started to explain. “Lily forces us to stay here just so she can avoid Potter.”

“And there is no way those boys would be caught dead in here!” Lily exclaimed with a smile. She thought that it was a devious plan she came up with a while ago in order to avoid her annoying stalker. If they did go to the Three Broomsticks, the Marauders would no doubt corner them into a booth and force them to actually spend time together against their will. In her view, they already suffer enough having to see the boys in school, they should all get a little break from them for at least some time. Madam Puddifoot’s was the perfect place for it!

Now, Iris on the other hand, she knew was a completely different story. From just looking at the expression that had washed over her twins face as soon as she stepped into the shop, Lily knew that Iris was regretting ever stepping foot out of the castle. She knew that Iris would much rather be in the Three Broomsticks with the troublesome Marauders scheming and causing some sort of chaos. However, she wasn’t going to have that! She wanted to spend time with her sister for a short while, at least. Even if that meant forcing Iris to go somewhere she would most likely despise.

“Iris just sit and drink some tea.” Iris obeyed the command as she grumbled under her breath about her sister and their stupid plans as she sat down at the chair next to Marlene’s. 

The girls all started to talk to each other animatedly about certain things. Marlene gushed about William like she had for most of the day, Wendy started to discuss their homework for the weekend, and Lily complained about James (which Iris noticed she did a lot of…). They ordered some tea to hopefully warm themselves up from how cold it was outside. 

They all indulged themselves in the sweet taste of their choice while they basked in the warmth of the small shop. Iris appreciated the warmth and the tea wasn’t terrible, but she was completely and utterly bored!

She didn’t like listening to the mundane conversation between her friends. She had given her input into their conversations every once in a while but it got to the point where she was not stimulated by the talking any longer. It felt like she was drowning in an ocean of bland words. She could feel the boring words that were lodged in her throat choke her to the point where she basically sat silent at the table while sipping her drink.

Finally, after enduring enough, Iris stood up and stretched her stiff legs. “Well, I have to use the toilet.” She came up with a quick excuse as soon as she finished her drink. The eyes of the other Gryffindor girls followed her movements with calculating stares. They could tell that Iris had had enough with their conversation and was itching to leave. She wrapped her scarf around her neck to cover her nose and mouth while making her way towards the exit. She breley gave the three other girls a wave goodbye before she disappeared from their sight and into the blanket of snow outside.

They stared at the door for a moment in silence before Wendy turned to Lily with a plain expression. “She’s not coming back is she?”

Iris turned back to the table and picked up her tea cup, “nope.”

* * *

While the snow continuously fell from the sky, Iris trudged through the cold to the best of her ability. She shivered every once and a while while trying to burrow herself further into her coat and scarf. After escaping her friends clutches, Iris could finally walk around the small village by herself. If she could, she would have gone into the Three Broomsticks to get a butterbeer or possibly swindle someone into giving her some Firewhiskey. However, it was far too crowded in the pub for her to even step foot through the door.

Instead she resorted to walking through the village. She had seen a few students that she knew from around the castle and chatted with them quickly before going on her way. As she continued on her path through the village, she found a small path that lead into the woods. She stood at the beginning of the path and stared at it for a moment. A smirk crawled onto her chapped lips as she gazed down the dark path. Without a care, Iris strolled down the path to where ever it would lead her.

Iris dodged low hanging branches that reached towards her while she skipped down the path. She didn’t think that the path was anything too exciting. It did hold an air of mystery because she had no idea where it would lead her. However, it provided her with at least _some_ entertainment.

After a few minutes of walking along the barely visible path, Iris soon came to a small clearing. Along the edge of the clearing furthest away from her was a fence that screamed ‘stay away!’ From the creepy vines that crawled along it to the fact that it was almost completely broken, anyone would think of leaving at that point. But Iris only became more curious. She stepped over to the fence to see why it was placed there and what it tried to keep people from. As soon as she saw the tall, ancient building looming behind the fence, she understood why they would try to stop anyone from getting too close.

Iris stared with wide eyes at the Shrieking Shack as she tried to drink in what it looked like. The stories that she had heard about it didn’t do it justice. The broken, abandoned building was far more terrifying than what she had heard. She could already imagine hearing the wails and screams of agony coming from inside the building. It looked like one of the houses from the horror movies that she loved to watch with her father. She was so enraptured by the creepy building that she didn’t see the four figures emerging from the path behind her.

“Lost are we?”

Iris jumped at the sudden voice and let out a squeak. She spun around to face the people who had decided to follow her and glared at them hotly. The four Marauders smirked at Iris as she tried to hide the fact that James had startled her by coughing slightly and trying to hide her face into her Gryffindor scarf in embarassment. “No! I’m not lost!”

“No need to be afraid, love.” Sirius strutted over to the girl and swung and arm over her shoulders as he tried to get a good look at her rosy cheeks. “You’re safe now with me.”

Iris rolled her eyes at his words and smirked at his attempt to woo her. However, she didn’t remove his arm from her shoulders as she found herself warming up in his hold. Could it be because Sirius was wearing a tick coat that provided her warmth? Or could it be that her body started to heat up over the fact that Sirius was so close to her? She tried to toss away the idea of his proximity affecting her so much because she didn’t want to admit that it was even close to being true.

For a while, Iris had been drowning in denial ever since Lily pointed out that there was an attraction between Sirius and her. She became complete confused by the turmoil that had implanted itself in her chest. She didn’t want to admit that there was… _something_ embedding itself in her heart because of Sirius. Nothing like that had ever happened before! It scared her slightly to be experiencing something that was completely foreign to her. It also didn’t help that her friends had taken the time to tease her as much as they could about her apparent feelings for the boy.

Unbeknownst to her, the same thing was happening to Sirius. He wasn’t new to the aspect of dating or anything of the sort. However, Sirius had never felt so… he didn’t know the word, but it was_ something_! It was so strong that the other boys had started to notice how he was being affected by the redheads appearance and they took time out of their days to tease him for it. Sirius had seemingly lost interest in many other girls and only paid attention to Iris. Instead of allowing the group of girls who threw themselves at him to surround him all the time, he tried to spend as much time as he could with Iris. It was as if he had become blind to seeing every girl except Iris. Of course, unlike any other girl that Sirius has been with in the past, Iris actually gave Sirius a run for his money. Could it be because Iris actually posed a challenge to him that he was drawn to her? Most likely. After all, the thrill was in the chase.

“Leave her alone, Padfoot,” Remus commented with a shake of his head. “I don’t think anyone is safe when with you.” Everyone snickered at his comment as Sirius glowered at his friend.

Sirius grumbled, “shut it, Moony.”

“Did you four follow me out here?” Iris asked with suspicious eyes after she finally recovered from her laughter. The four boys instantly shook their heads no vigorously. From the fact that they had answered so quickly, Iris could tell that they were lying. She stared at each of their attempts of hiding the truth with a blank, unimpressed expression and came to a conclusion. “You followed me.”

James chuckled nervously, “no, no. Why do you think that we were following you? Which we were _not_.”

Iris rolled her eyes, “We’ve been over this hundreds of times, I’m not thick.”

All of their shoulders sagged as they knew that there was no hiding their intentions from the fiery girl. They couldn’t count the number of times that she knew they were lying about _anything_. They couldn’t fool her, no matter what!

Sirius cleared his throat, “and if we were?”

Iris looked up to him through her eyelashes as it became apparent that her attention was mainly focused on Sirius when she spoke. “I suppose I’d just have punish you.” 

A shiver ran down his spine as he tried to keep anyone from noticing how flustered he became. Though he wasn’t sure if it was because of the cold winds or of her statement. Sirius flashed her a saucy smirk, “and what does that entail?”

The three other boys rolled their eyes and shared an irritated expression. Leave it to those two to turn the situation into a flirting fest. “Never mind that,” James commented with a huff as he crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you doing out here, Iris? I thought that the girls were showing you around.”

Iris turned her attention away from the boy who still held onto her shoulders and shrugged, “they were, but they decided to drag me into Madam Puddifoot’s.” They all simultaneously shivered at the thought of that obnoxiously colored tea shop. “I could not stand a minute longer in there.”

“So you walked over to the Shrieking Shack?” Peter squeaked out in confusion.

Iris nodded her head, “only by accident really. Though who could pass up seeing the infamous Shrieking Shack?”

All of the boys shared an uneasy glance at her remark. Iris definitely should _not_ try to get involved with the stories that she may have heard about the abandoned building. They didn’t want her to be caught in the crossfire of what really happened once a month at night. There were times in the past were there were a few close calls and people almost got hurt or killed. However, they were able to divert any sort of disaster from striking while keeping Remus’ secret safe.

“I’m guessing you’ve heard the stories about the building. Of course, you have.” She said while begging the boys to come close so she didn’t have to speak so loud and could bury herself into Sirius's side. She started to retell the story that she heard from the older students. “I heard from some seven years that once a month, at night, a cult kidnaps a first-year and brings them to the Shack. Then they use the cruciatus curse on them the whole night before killing them!” 

It amused them that people told stories about what they thought could have been happening in the Shrieking Shack. Of course, it was off the mark when if came to what actually happened once a month. But they would rather have the rumors spread than letting it be known what truly happened.

“You don’t actually believe that, do you?” Remus asked with a raised eyebrow. He didn’t think that Iris was one to believe in silly rumors that were clearly meant to scare the first years. Though he could never be sure about her, for she was a loose cannon that nobody could really predict.

She shook her head in amusement, “of course not. I’m not some gullible first year! I bet whatever happens down there is far better than some cult making sacrifices.”

James nodded his head slowly, “right, well, why don’t we leave the shack alone for now.” He said as he wrapped his own arm around Iris as well which allowed both him and Sirius to lead her away. “Just to make sure that you don’t get kidnapped.”

“Perhaps some Butterbeer’ll warm you up.” Sirius commented as he could feel Iris cold body through his coat. “You must be freezing.”

Iris could tell that the boys were nervous about something. It obviously had to do with the Shrieking Shack, however, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get some Butterbeer. “Alright, to the Three Broomsticks then?”

“To the Three Broomsticks!” All the boys agreed as they made their way back up the path and towards the bustling village in order to get their delicious drinks from said pub.

* * *

Five tall glasses of Butterbeer were placed down on the wooden table in the Three Broomsticks. As soon as they were placed down, greedy hands reached out to snatch each glass in order for the owners to take large gulps of the beverage. The slurred words of drunk wizards and witches filled the pub and mingled with the chatter of many Hogwarts students who munched on food and drank their Butterbeer or Pumpkin Juice.

The Marauders plus Iris all chugged their drinks with satisfaction as the liquid quickly warmed them up slightly. After the five of them had walked from the Shrieking Shack to the pub, James and Sirius went off in search of the barmaid, Rosemuerta, to order their drinks. (They also had hopes of sweet talking their way into getting some Firewisky from her. But just like in the past, they had no such luck.) They all sat at a booth that was tucked into a corner of the pub where they hoped they would get the most warmth.

Iris shuttered as the warm liquid moved down her throat and lit a fire to each of her frostbitten nerves. She moaned in delight, “I’ve been dying for a Butterbeer all year!”

James took a swig of his own Butterbeer, “I’m glad that we could finally get you one then.”

“We would have brought you here earlier if you didn’t have so many detentions,” Remus pointed out.

They all nodded their heads in agreement at the startment. “Do you have something against staying out of trouble?” Peter mused.

Iris’ eyebrows furrowed as she scoffed, “you’re asking _me_ if I have something against staying out of trouble?” She asked as bewilderment washed over her rosy face. She gestured to James who sat to her right and Sirius who sat to her left (very closely she must add). She flashed him a teasing smile across the table where he and Remus sat. “Mate, you do realize who you’re friends with, right?”

Peter flushed in embarrassment at her questions as it had an obvious answer. He should have realized that all of his friends were used to getting in trouble. That and he was just as bad as them! He usually got into trouble just like them. Though they were usually the ones to drag him into certain situations that resulted in them getting detention.

Iris laughed at the obvious humiliation and shook her head at the poor boy. She would have continued to tease the boy if it wasn’t for the skittish and quick footsteps heading in their direction. She turned to see her good friend Severus walking over to them. Her eyebrows furrowed as she could see a certain air of uneasiness surround him as she could see his eyes searching around the busy pub.

Once his wide eyes found her own he sighed and rushed over to her. “Iris, I’ve been looking for you.” He breathed out in relief as he smiled brightly towards her. Of course, it swiftly dropped off of his face when he saw the glares the Marauders were shooting at him. “I see you’re busy though.”

Iris waved her hand dismissively, “not too busy to talk with you, Sev.”

“Are you going to really choose the snake over us?” Sirius asked in disgruntled amazement with his mouth slightly agape. He definitely didn’t like the fact that Iris seemed so cozy with the slimy snake. Sirius didn’t want to admit the real reason that he didn’t like Iris being friends with Severus. He didn’t like that Iris was even hanging around a Slytherin as they were known to be sketchy and deceptive while also being surrounded by dark magic. He also was slightly worried that there was a large possibility of Severus hurting Iris in someway. He didn’t want to see her hurt by some pathetically weak Slytherin. He may also been slightly jealous that Iris was willing to ditch him and the rest of them for _Snivellus_.

Iris’ eyes narrowed at him, “_yes_, I do, at the moment. After all, he is my friend just as much as you are.”

“But he’s-”

“Finish that sentence, Potter,” she growled, “and if it’s an insult, I’ll make sure you can never walk again.”

The boy’s eyes widened in horror as he clamped his mouth shut. It was obvious over the time that they knew her, Iris was quite protective of Severus which they could never understand. She usually retaliated against them if they so much as name called Severus during class. Merlin, that girl was terrifying!

“I-I don’t want to… intrude,” Severus said nervously as the astonished filled eyes turned back in his direction and hardened into glares once again.

Iris pushed James out of the booth, “no worries,” she stepped over the fallen Gryffindor boy and linked arms with her brother-like friend. “Off we go then.” With their jaws dropped, the Marauders watched as Iris sauntered out of the pub with the Slytherin attached at her arm. 

* * *

The Gryffindor girl and Slytherin boy walked along the cobbled stone with arms linked. It may have been cold, however, Iris could barely feel the frigid winds that tried to bite at her skin. She was far too heated with how her friends reacted to the fact that she had decided to speak with Severus. They couldn’t decide who she decided to spend time with! They had no say in who her friends were! Who were they to think that? She didn’t care that there was some sort of rivalry between the group of them. She didn’t want to be dragged between their stupid little spat. She was unsure what it was even about!

“Iris?” Severus brought her out of her thoughts, “are you alright?”

She shook her head to try and rid her mind of the intense thoughts, “fine, those idiots can just be…” she sighed as she couldn’t find the right words.

“Horrible people?” Severus pitched in with a slight chuckle.

Iris thought about it for a second, “that’s putting it lightly.” She laughed, “I would’ve said bellends!”

The both of them dissolved into laughter as they continued to walk through the crowds of people who hurried through the village. As the two friends walked with each other and enjoyed each other’s company, they didn’t notice a figure lurking in the shadows behind them. They didn’t even see way their beady eyes followed their movements with an extreme amount of restlessness. 

“So what was it you wanted to talk about?” Severus licked his chapped lips as he removed his arm from Iris’ hold. Her eyes furrowed in confusion as she stopped to turn to her friend. “Is something wrong?” The concern that laced her voice was quite evident and the softness that was in her eyes would seem uncharacteristic of her unless you really knew her. Which Severus did. Just seeing the way that her eyes flooded with a sense of security that promised him comfort from her caused him to gulp. How could he do this to her?

“Nothing’s wrong,” he finally answered while trying to find the right way to phrase what he was trying to say. “I just… I was wondering if you’d been feeling weird at all.”

“Weird?” Iris mused with suspicion. “In what way?”

She could see the hesitation behind his words as he tried and failed a few times to speak again. “I don’t know, just weird?”

Iris thought about it for a minute and tried to figure out what he could mean. Was there a point where she felt… weird? “I don’t think so…” She thought about it for a moment longer before a thought popped into her head and her once soft eyes hardened. “Did Lily put you up to this?”

Severus, caught off guard, stumbled over his words, “wh-what? No, no, Lily didn’t put m-me up to anything!” Why she would think that Lily had sent him out to speak with her was beyond him. Though he supposed that it had to do with the fact that Lily was certain Iris had feelings for the Sirius Black. Did he like the fact that the girl he considered a sister may have feelings for one of the boys that tended to bully him? No, not really. However, he couldn’t control her feelings especially something as strong as love (which he knew Iris barely had any experience with especially any towards someone outside of her family).

Iris eyed him a long moment with suspicious eyes as she tried to see if he was telling the truth. Not seeing any lie etched on his face, Iris nodded her head and let the notion slide. “If Lily didn’t send you, then why are you wondering if I’ve been feeling weird?” Seerus opened his mouth to answer but quickly closed it when he saw who stood behind the redhead. Iris tilted her head, “Sev?”

“Spit it out, Snape!” A distinctly cold voice said right behind Iris. At the sound of the voice that Iris had the displeasure of hearing nearly every day, she turned with her jaw clenched. She came face to face with a smug smirk that she wished she could punch off of the ignorant boys face. 

She sneered at the slightly younger boy, “what do you want Regulus?”

The boy tsked at her tone, “don’t sound so annoyed with my presence, Evans.” His eyes did not waver from her own just like every other time he had ever spoken to her. And just like any other time, it was like he was searching for some sort of reaction. He advanced towards her further, and, like in the past, Iris did not shy away from him. Instead she kept her tall stance and had no intention of submitting to his attempt of being intimidating. “We both know you secretly enjoy our talks.”

Iris scoffed and laughed sarcastically, “please! I’d rather marry a troll before ever even enjoy standing in the same room as you.”

Regulus tsked once again but didn’t let the smug smile slip off his pale face. “I think you’ll be saying differently soon enough.”

Iris’ expression morphed into one of disgust. “Sorry to disappoint, mate, but that’s never going to happen.” She thought that he was delusional to think that she would ever stoop to the level of actually endure his presence without wanting to strangle him. With that said, she turned to Severus and flashed him a smile even though it seemed forced. “See you, Sev.”

The two boys watched as Iris disappeared and allowed herself to be swallowed into the crowds. She took quick, long strides in order to get away from the repulsive Slytherin that she had come to despise over the past few months. She was sure that if she had stayed even a few seconds longer and stared at the imbeciles face, Iris would have used a curse on him. And she didn’t want to be thrown out of another school.

Regulus smirked as he watched her retreating figure. “Is it working?” He didn’t turn to Severus and he already knew that the older boy was fiddling with his hands. He didn’t get a response, so he spun on his heels to stare at Severus intensely. “Well?!” The way that Regulus was able to intimidate Severus was quite pathetic. It also didn’t help that Lucius helped Regulus with scaring poor Severus into submission.

Severus gulped, “it doesn’t seem like it was strong enough…”

“What?” His voice was low and held a threat that Severus knew the younger boy would cash in on. “You said you made a strong enough dose!”

“I-I guess it didn’t work!” Severus exclaimed in exasperation as he flailed his arms, “I made sure that she took it yesterday at dinner. It should have taken effect today…”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like it worked!” Regulus growled as he started to lose his temper. He took a deep breath, “make something stronger and make sure that it works!” Severus nodded his head vigorously at his order and scurried off in order hopefully get away from his wrath. Regulus shook his head and sighed. _Snape better fix this_, he thought in annoyance, _he better get that stupid potion to work on her_.


	7. Holiday Excitement

**THE AIR IN HOGWARTS WAS FULL OF** excitement as students walked from one class to another. The reason that all of the students were buzzing around the castle happily instead of moping around was that it was almost Christmas break. The students only had to endure just one more day of classes before they were allowed to travel home for the holidays. Even the professors were looking forward to a break with no students to deal with! Because of that, the day had been quite lax as most teachers did not assign work that was too hard for their students.

Of course, there were a few students who had taken the liberty of deciding to stay in the castle for the break instead of going home. Iris was hoping to be one of those students, but she was close to pulling her hair out and just giving up due to Lily's incessant nagging about going home for Christmas. Iris did want to see her parents and wish them a happy Christmas… it was just that Iris didn't want to deal with their older sister, Petunia.

The long-necked girl had seemed to make it her job to constantly remind the twins that they were freaks and creeps. Merlin, if Iris could turn her sister into a toad she would! Of course, she couldn't use magic on a muggle unless she wanted to have her wand taken away and her reputation tarnished for the rest of her life. But she'd be damned if she wouldn't try to scare the bird-like girl with some idle threats.

"Lily, stop!" Iris exclaimed as she tried to get away from her persistent twin who was on a hot pursuit behind her. They had just left their Herbology lesson and as soon as Iris saw the narrowed stare from her sister, she bolted out of the classroom to avoid Lily. However, Lily was just as fast as Iris.

At the moment, Iris was pulling on her arm as Lily held onto her tightly. Iris was trying her hardest to get away from Lily who was adamant about getting her sister to go home with her for the holidays. It was quite the scene to see the pair of identical twins playing tug of war with Iris' arm in the middle of the corridor. There were a few students who chuckled at the girls' antics before moving on their way and there were also a few others who decided to watch the spectacle for a few moments before moving on.

"Stop making a scene, Iris!" Lily huffed while pulling against her sister with the strength that could rival that of a hippogriff. She honestly thought that Iris was being childish with her refusal to go home. Yes, Lily would agree with Iris that Petunia was going to no doubt be a terror to deal with over the holiday. However, she wasn't going to let their older sister scare her away from seeing her friends and family at home. "You're only making this harder for yourself!"

Iris whined, "no! You're making this harder, now let go!"

Lily, done with her doppelgangers immature actions, nodded her head with a sarcastic smile, "fine." With that said, she let go of Iris' arm with a smirk. Iris yelped in alarm as she lost the force that was weighing her down to her spot. Because of that, she flew backward with her arms flailing in panic. She landed on the ground with a thump and groaned in pain. Lily laughed at the sight of Iris laying on her back as she cursed loudly.

"Why are you so mean!?"

Lily laughed with a roll of her eyes, "when you stop being childish, I'll stop being mean." Her simple explanation only earned glare from the redhead who was sprawled out on the ground. Lily sighed and turned serious, "now get up! We have Transfiguration and then both of us have some packing to do."

Iris shook her head, "I told you, I don't want to deal with Petunia right now, which means I don't want to go home."

"But what about mum and dad?"

She shrugged her shoulders as she stood up from the ground and cracked her stiff back, "I'll send 'em a letter." Yes, Iris would miss seeing her parents for the holidays, however, it wasn't like she hadn't spent Christmas away from home.

Last year and the year before, Iris and her friends, Matilda and Ada, had stayed at Beauxbatons over the break for those two years. The reason being that Ada couldn't go to her home at the time. So being good friends, Iris and Matilda had stayed with her in the school so that she hadn't felt so lonely. Those weeks may have been the most fun that Iris had during those years! What harm would missing another Christmas with her family do…?

"Iris," Lily said firmly as she shot her a hard look. Irritation swirled in her gut at the carefree look on her sister's face. "Just come with me, please."

It was never normal to see Lily beg for anything! Iris' eyes widened at the pleading tone that dripped from her pale lips. Of course, there were times that she had seen Lily beg her to act nice or for her to do something, but Iris could see that Lily was beyond begging. It was obvious that Lily didn't want to spend another Christmas without her and she could see that through the way that her eyes were lit with desperation. Oh, how Iris hated seeing her sister acting so desperate! It definitely didn't look good on Lily who was always feisty and strong. And how could Iris say no to Lily's doe eyes?

"Alright, alright!" Iris started softly, "I'll go home with you," Lily cheered loudly and pulled Iris into a hug. Iris thought that Lily had broken her ribs with how tight Lily had latched onto her. Through the tight hug, Iris was able to wheeze out a warning, "just don't blame me if I end up hexing Petunia!"

Lily laughed, "don't worry. We can both stop each other from hexing her." Iris laughed, though it was labored as she was trying to catch her breath, and she wiggled out of her sister's hold. "Now come on, we've got Transfigurations!" Lily's spirit had been lifted now that she was able to convince Iris to go home for the break. It would be wonderful to finally enjoy a Christmas with her entire family! The both of them laughed as Lily pulled her sister away and towards their next lesson.

* * *

Midnight graced the near silent castle and smothered it in darkness. As ghosts floated down corridors, teachers and prefects patrolled the castle and the trees in the forbidden forest swayed in the wind, Iris and Sirius were enjoying each others company in the Gryffindor common room. Iris was bundled up in an old jumper and long pants as she sat on the floor as close as she could to the fire. It was snowing heavily outside and the castle had become an ice box!

Sirius sat next to her on the floor. He had taken the liberty of latching himself onto Iris, like he has done many times in the past, and had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. As time had gone on, both of them had become far more comfortable with each other. It didn't appear that they had only known each other a few months but instead years. They just had a spark between them which bubbled some sort of chemistry. Merlin, did that cause some problems for them.

Their friends constantly reminded them of how close they appeared to be. Not only was it their closest friends but also most of the Hogwarts student body saw it. Many of the boys who had been pinning over Iris had stopped after they saw how enrapture the two were (that and the obvious silent threats that Sirius was throwing their way if they even looked in her direction.). The girls who usually hung off of Sirius' arms had a hard time finding him as he spent most of his time with Iris. Even if they were able to corner him, he didn't give them the light of day. This caused most of the students to leave the two alone as they could see the obvious attraction between them.

"I heard that you're going home for the holidays," Sirius spoke over the sound of the crackling fire.

Iris nodded her head and looked up through her lashes at him, "yeah, Lily begged me to go with her." She shrugged her shoulders, "I couldn't say no to her."

"She forced you didn't she," Sirius smiled down to her in amusement. He suspected that Lily was going to force Iris to go home with her for Christmas. He couldn't count the number of times he heard Lily complain about Iris' reluctance to travel home with her. It had started to give him a headache.

Iris scoffed at how he seemed to know her sister so well. Then again, he was friends with James Potter who was obsessed with the redhead and would no doubt talk about her nonstop. At that point, Iris was certain that Sirius had heard thousands of stories about Lily and James' constant gushing about her. "She may have," she offhandedly replied which caused the boy to chuckle. "I suspect you're going home with James."

It wasn't a question. Iris knew about the relationship that Sirius had with his family as he had confided in her about it a few times. She knew how his parents tried to force their pureblood views onto him and his brother. He had fought their views when he was younger and that only caused his family to seemingly hate him. It also didn't help when he was sorted into Gryffindor! He told her how abusive his family could really be towards him. She had no idea that the confident, arrogant and carefree Sirius Black had such a terrible family life. She would even go as far as to say that it broke her heart to hear about how horribly he was treated by his own family.

Sirius' chuckles stopped abruptly as he shuffled uncomfortably. No matter how many times he had actually found solace in Iris to talk about personal issues, he was always awkward when talking about them. However, he was willing to reveal more about himself to her than he was to his other friends. "I can't go home with my family, can I?" He asked bitterly. He didn't want to endure listening to his mother's bitching and his father's complaints all while they praise Regulus for being such a good son. If he were to go back to his home, he knew that he would be locked in his bedroom and spend the entire time by himself just like every other holiday in the past. He was grateful that the Potter's had opened their home to him!

Iris could see that she had only brought up some sour feelings into the air as Sirius started to scowl. She hadn't meant to bring up any terrible feelings. Iris didn't want to remind him in the slightest about his horrid family. She cringed, "sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright, love," Sirius brushed it off as he tried his best to smile, "I know you didn't mean to."

Iris sighed and tried to change the subject slightly, "I just wish I didn't have to deal with Petunia for the holidays."

"She must to be better than Regulus," Sirius pointed out.

Iris chuckled, "I don't know, I'd take Regulus over Petunia any day." She tried to joke and make Sirius less tense after the topic of their families was brought up. She succeeded when Sirius cracked a small smirk as his chest rumbled with slight laughter. She was glad that she was able to at least lighten the mood slightly. She never liked making her friends feel bad. Yes, she pranked a lot of people (and could be considered a bully by some people), but she never liked intentionally hurting people. She never went out of her way to be malicious and hurt someone through a prank. Even if it did happen, Iris would muster up an apology to whoever was hurt and try to reconcile with them.

Sirius pursed his lips, "I suspect there's no way you'd let me come home with you for the holidays."

Iris could see his sly attempt at a flirt from a mile away. She smirked at him, "unless you'd like to deal with my very protective father…" She trailed off and let Sirius see what she was trying to imply.

His eyes grew large as he caught what she was saying. From the way that she warning him, Sirius thought that her father would beat him for even thinking of going home with her. Of course, Sirius didn't know that Craig Evans was actually one of the biggest softies that anyone would encounter. That man could never hurt anyone and could barely intimidate a niffler! Even if he liked to think that he could frighten people when he had to. She had lived most of her life with her father coddling her so much. She could live with it when she was a child, however, as she grew older, it became annoying to have her father be so protective of her. She loved her father dearly, but he could be too overbearing sometimes.

Sirius coughed, "I suppose James' will have to do." The redhead's laughter broke through the quiet common room at his defeat.

Despite the two of them trying to find other topics to talk about, the words that they tried to speak had died on their tongues. Instead of talking excessively, they had both sat with each other in silence as they tried to memorize how it felt to be with each other in that setting. They were going to spend nearly two weeks away from each other. Neither one of them wanted to admit it, but they were both going to miss their midnight rendezvous. So instead of saying it out loud, they both were drawn closer to each other.

Iris convinced herself that the only reason why she was getting so close to the shaggy-haired boy was that she was extremely cold. She didn't want to admit that she was trying to memorize the way he held her because she would miss him too much. She didn't want to admit that she was going to miss the comfort that he provided her at night. She also didn't want to admit that she would miss the way he annoyed her or even his insistent flirting!

Of course, Sirius was already certain that he would miss his red-haired beauty during the break. He could barely imagine himself spending even an hour without admiring her in class or joking with her in the Great Hall. He didn't want to miss out on seeing her slightly freckled face, her thin pink lips that always curled into an infamous smirk or her brown eyes that were always lit with mischief every day.

Merlin, winter break was going to be tough.

* * *

The shrill whistle of the Hogwarts express broke through the air as steam and smoke rose up from the large red engine that rested at the station. Students ran around the station and climbed into the train to finally leave and go home. Iris rushed down the platform and chased after her pesky cat who decided that he wanted to stay at the school. Just like his owner, Shadow didn't want to see Petunia again. Though she was going to force her poor kitten to join them. If she had to suffer her horrid sister then so did Shadow.

"Get back here! Shadow!" She chastised her cat as they weaved between many students on the platform. If she didn't hurry up and catch her kitten then there was no doubt that she would miss the train. Her sister and friends were already on the train and if she missed it… she knew Lily would beat her to a pulp (no matter if it was her fault or not).

She ran for a few moments longer and tried to keep her kitten within her sights… only to lose him in the throng of people. She huffed out in annoyance and ran a hand through her short hair. "Iris?" She jumped at the sudden voice behind her, and she spun around to find Severus standing behind her. Also with him was Shadow who was squirming in his hands. Iris sighed while her shoulders shagged in relief as she approached her pseudo-brother. "Shouldn't you be on the train already."

Iris huffed and reached out to take Shadow from Severus. The poor kitten squirmed and wrestled his owner. He made it very clear that he didn't want to go home with his owner. He meows loudly in protest. "Oh stop your whining, you mangy thing!" Iris ordered her restless kitten. She looked up to Seerus and sighed, "thank you for grabbing him for me, I would have missed the train if I kept running after Shadow." She casted an annoyed glance at the kitten in her arms who had seemingly given up in his escape as he realized there was no getting out.

Severus chuckled as he watched the two of them struggle, "it's no problem, Iris." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he gulped and took a deep breath. He was far beyond nervous at that moment and that was evident from how he wrung his fingers together and bounced on the balls of his feet slightly. Iris raised a questioning brow to his odd behavior and opened her mouth to question it, but he beat her to it. "I wanted to give you something!" His words were rushed and breathless like deer trying to get away from a hunter.

"You do?" He nodded his head meekly and started to rummage through his pockets in search for Iris' "gift". "Why don't you wait to give it to me on Christmas?" She asked confused, "we'll see each other then, won't we?"

Ever since they were eleven-years-old, Severus had always spent at least some time in the Evans household over Christmas and summer break. Though Petunia always resented letting any other "freaks" into their home, Craig and Octavia welcomed the boy every time. Despite the fact that they did find the boy a little strange, they wouldn't deny their daughters the ability to see one of their best mates over the breaks especially if he didn't live too far away. Of course, Iris was giddy to spend the holidays with Severus and Lily as she hadn't done it in a couple of years. At least that was one of few upsides to going home.

"W-well, yes, we will, but I wanted to give you an early present!" He cringed at they way his voice cracked loudly. Merlin, why did he have to be such a bad liar? Iris eyed him skeptically like a lioness does her prey as she pat her kitten. Why was he acting so… jumpy? Anxious? Nervous? "I made you a-"

"There you are, love!"

Severus huffed as his eyes shut close in frustration. Of course! Here came Sirius Black and the rest of his idiotic crew of troublemakers to intrude on their conversation. He had to make sure that he gave the small vial of perfume to her! If he didn't… He really didn't want to think about what his "friends" would do to him. He could feel the pair menacing, narrowed glares drilling a hole into his skull from the shadows. His palms were sweaty in anxiety at the prospect of how angry the others could become if he fails.

"We were looking all over for you," James commented as he sauntered over to the pair while being closely followed by Sirius, Remus, and Peter. "We didn't think that you were going to make the train when we saw you run off!"

Iris rolled her eyes, "blame this ball of fur," she gestured to Shadow who glared at the group in frustration. "Ran off before we even made it within ten feet of the train."

They all nodded their heads, "we'll also miss it if we keep standing out here." Remus pitched in as only a moment after his comment the whistle of the train screamed.

Iris shrugged her shoulders and started to head towards the red engine. "Well, what are we doing then," she smirked at the group of boys. "Come on, boys!"

They all scrambled after her quickly. Bother Sirius and James took initiative to shove Severus out of their way as they passed. With menacing glares piercing the snakes skin and smirks pulling at the corners of their lips, James and Sirius made sure to separate Severus from even being able to catch up to Iris.

Severus could only watch in horror as his friend disappeared from his sight as her and the marauders disappeared into a compartment together. He gulped as his hands nervously started to play with the glass vial full of clear liquid weighed down his pocket. He was going to have to answer to a furious Regulus and Lucius when they come to see if he actually gave Iris the potion. Oh, Merlin, he was so dead!

"Did you do it?" A sickly cool voice slithered out from the shadows behind the nervous teen. Severus yelped at the recognizable voice and spun around to face an expectant Lucius. "Well?" Lucius was impatient to hear the news of weather Severus did his job correct or not. If he could, Lucius would make sure that Iris used the potion whether she wanted it or not. In all honesty, he wasn't very keen on using this plan that was created by Regulus. However, he wouldn't argue with the boy. The plan wasn't too far fetch, but Lucius would have chosen someone far more… eligible. Why they had to choose a mudblood was beyond him.

Severus cleared his throat nervously, "you see-"

"If you messed up again, Snape," Lucius started to threaten as he took a large intimidating step towards the younger boy forcing Severus to press himself against the wall. The blond towered menacingly over the poor teen who had nowhere to go. "You'll have both myself and Regulus coming after you," He hissed as he jabbed a finger into the shaking boys chest, "got that?" Severus' voice failed him which caused him to only nod his head in terrified understanding. Lucius stepped back and placed his hands in his pockets, "now, did you give her the potion?" Severus hesitated for a moment before her nodded his head meekly once again. Lucius' pale lips pulled back in a wide, sick smirk that froze Severus to his spot. "Good, and you're sure that this dose will work?"

"W-well, if she uses it regularly then eventually it will, but I doubt she would use it now…"

Lucius nodded his head, "so by the time we get back to school."

"T-talk to her then."

Lucius nodded his head firmly as his satisfied smirk didn't slip off of his pale white face. With that, Lucius spun on his heels and started to lazily march down the hall. "You better hope it works Severus," he called over his shoulder. He left his warning hang in the air unfinished as he knew Severus could finish putting together anything that may have been missing from his statement. Severus' skin became even paler if that was possible. What had he gotten himself into?

* * *

"Where have you been, Iris?" Lily asked when the compartment door opened to reveal the redhead.

She rolled her eyes at the demanding tone that her sister used while she shuffled into the small space. She plopped down on the empty space next to Wendy and across from the questioning glare that Lily was throwing at her. She set her irked kitten down to allow him to get comfy on the seat though he did let out an irritated meow. "I was chasing this nuisance all over the bloody platform," she threw a glare at her cat as he turned away from her and tried to find a comfy position to nap in.

Marlene giggled lightly at the explanation, "it looks like your cat is as troublesome as you are."

"You're just figuring this out now?" She deadpanned before smirking widely. "Though I know just how to punish the pest for almost making me miss the train." Locking him inside Petunia's bedroom was no doubt a punishment for him but also an opportunity to annoy Petunia.

"Lily thought you had decided to ditch us and stay at Hogwarts," Wendy commented with an amused smile.

Iris scoffed loudly with mock disbelief and betrayal shining through her eyes. "Lily!? You thought that I, your twin sister, would ever abandon you after I agreed to go home?" She shouted out dramatically. "I feel so betrayed that you think I would do that, sister dearest!"

Lily rolled her eyes and smiled slightly at her sisters dramatic rendition of her "betrayal". Lily didn't completely believe that Iris was going to stay behind. For one, she hadn't placed her name on the list to stay at the castle. She also wasn't the kind of person to go back on a promise. Iris honored any vow that she made, for better or for worse, and she never backed down because of her own selfish needs or for anyone else.

The girls started to converse with each other. Gossip on who was dating who and who had a crush on who was discussed between Lily and Wendy while Marlene and Iris listed what presents they wanted for Christmas. The train continued to roll across the tracks towards the hidden London platform at King's Cross. Inside the train was just as lively as it was inside the girl's compartment. The buzz of excitement infected everyone on that train.

Though soon enough, the topic that was gawing at Iris came up. "Severus has been acting quite strange," Lily pointed out.

Iris nodded her head as she rested her head on her closed fist. "Yeah… I wonder what's been bothering him…" He had become far more skittish and quiet, Iris noticed. He seemingly had started to drown himself in his potion assignments and rarely ever went out of his way to spend time with both herself and Lily. She missed the time they had just enjoyed each other's company and mucked about. Now it was like he was… avoiding her. And when Severus did speak to her, he was constantly nervous and couldn't look her in the eyes.

"Do you think it has to do with Regulus and Lucius?" Marlene asked hesitantly as she knew mentioning the two boys around Iris was like walking in a minefield. The two snakes never ceased to try and confront the girl for some reasons. Merlin, she couldn't count the number of times she could hear the boys taunts and Iris' anger fueled shouts. She didn't care for the teens as they proved to be bullies and were terrible to everyone and anyone who wasn't a Slytherin or a pureblood witch or wizard. She thought that they could only tolerate other Slytherins like themselves, so why were they going out of their way to speak to Iris?

Iris scowled at the mention of the two boys and crossed her arms over her chest in frustration. "I hope to Merlin that it doesn't, honestly, I don't see why he wants to hang around those… slimy snakes."

"They are in his house and they probably see each other more often then he sees you or Lily," Wendy pointed out.

Iris huffed, "Doesn't matter. If I were in Slytherin, I would make sure those two never even set foot in the same room as me!"

"Yet, they can't seem to leave you alone, even if you're in Gryffindor." Lily pondered with a concentrated expression as she tried to find out any sort of hidden details in the boys' actions.

Iris shrugged her shoulders, "doesn't matter, I was talking to him earlier and he seemed… jumpy, I guess."

"Did you ask him what was wrong?" Lily asked concerned. Severus had been their best friend ever since they first found out they were witches. Sure, Lily had noticed that Severus was acting strangely after the first few years at Hogwarts, however, it was starting to become far more worrying this year. He avoided them as much as he could. Lily felt like he was avoiding them because of something they may have done. At first, she thought that maybe Iris had pulled a prank that was far crueler than the ones she'd pulled in the past. But even Iris had no idea why Severus was acting so odd. She had let him be just in case something was wrong between them… Lily didn't want to lose him as a friend.

"I've tried before and was going to try again earlier, but when I got on the train we got separated." She sighed while running a hand through her short curls in frustration. A silence enveloped the group with open arms as they mulled over the conflict between The twins and their best friend. Of course, Iris was never one for silence. "I'm going to find out what's going on!" She declared loudly and stood up abruptly from her seat. Her friends tried to voice their apprehension at the idea, but Iris was already heading down the corridor in search of her friend.

She searched just about every compartment she could find. She peered through the glass to see ecstatic students who spoke excitedly about Christmas, kids who had decided to take a nap until they arrived at the station, and some couples who couldn't keep their hands to themselves. She was starting to grow restless and pondering if she should just give up and go sit with her friends. However, she stopped at one final compartment and pressed her ear against it. Just in case there was another couple in there who had decided to partake in some… sinful actions. Iris didn't want to see it, at all.

Hushed words greeted her ears through the glass. She tried to focus on who was speaking but wasn't really able to pinpoint who exactly was in the compartment. She guessed there was more than one person in there (unless someone was talking to themselves in there) and could hear that they were in some sort of heated debate. In any other circumstance, Iris wouldn't intrude on a discussion that didn't involve her one bit. But she saw it fit to at least have a small peek to see if Severus was in there.

Before she could get a proper look into the compartment, the door slide open to reveal the boy she was looking for. Severus jumped slightly at her sudden appearance and nearly squealed out loud. "Iris…" he breathed out as his wide eyes stared at her. There was a warning in his eyes that drowned his iris' as he hoped she could see the way they so desperately tried to worn her. Of course, Iris was unable to see his warnings which either meant that she didn't notice it or ignored it. Considering that Iris ignored just about every other warning that was given to her about most of the idiotic things she does, Severus wasn't surprised if she blatantly ignored it.

"Severus," Iris greeted with a wide and relieved smile, "I've been looking for you!"

"Sorry, Iris," Severus quickly apologized and tried to usher her away from the door so that neither her or the people in the compartment could see each other. "I thought you would rather be with the Marauders than me."

Iris shook her head, "that would never be true, Sev. You do know who the Marauders are, right?"

The both of them chuckled lightly at her slight jab at the group of boys who annoyed them. However, both of their light-hearted banter was struck with a cold voice that decided to invade on their conversation like an icy wind. "I do hope that you have a happy Christmas, Evans."

Iris' smile slipped off her face and was replaced with a scowl as she peered behind Severus to see Regulus and Lucius smirking at her. She could already feel her body become rigid with frustration and agitated. She had hoped that she wouldn't run into the Slytherins while on their way home. She didn't want to leave school with a bad taste in her mouth after seeing those thugs. However, it seemed like she wasn't going to get her way.

She smiled at Regulus, "and I hope you have a terrible one!" Her voice was oozing sarcasm as she sweetly stared at the boys. Her eyes were drenched in malice which was returned with the same amount of intensity by the ones it was aimed at.

"We only want to say goodbye to you," Lucius sneered through his perfect teeth that were bared in annoyance.

Iris glared at the boys as they both stood up to their full height, "fuck of, Malfoy."

Regulus gaped in mock disbelief as he placed a hand over his heart (though Iris was certain that he didn't have one). "Now, Sev." He sneered out the nickname that was usually reserved for the Evans twins to use. Severus froze at the tone that the younger boy used as dread seemingly flooded his gut. He turned to quickly glance at Regulus and saw the hard look that he was shooting at him. Severus gulped at the intensity behind the grey eyes and turned to look at Iris. He could see that she was fuming over the fact that Regulus had used the nickname that she claimed as hers. A hand clapped on his shoulder and Regulus came closer to him. "Are you really going to let her talk to us this way?"

Lucius tutted as he glared at Iris, "it's quite dangerous for a Mudblood to speak like that to a pureblood."

Iris' jaw instantly dropped at his words as even more rage started to burn every part of her body. "What did you call me, you prat!?" She shouted and had no doubt that her shrill yells were startling some other students. How dare he!

Severus glanced between the conflict that was starting to brew between the group. He had to try and diffuse the situation. "Iris, I think maybe we should go…"

Iris gaped at him. Was he not going to defend her? Was he going to just stand there and allow the thugs to refer to her as a… 'mudblood'? "Oh, no." She scoffed which caused Severus to wince harshly at her tone. "I don't want to pull you away from your friends, Severus! I'll just leave you three alone." With that said, she stomped without a glance at her friend and started to find another compartment to sit in. Perhaps she would spend her time with the Marauders for the time being.

Severus watched her go with a sigh as he knew he mucked everything up. Iris was no doubt furious about him not defending her and Lily would be the same once she found out. However, if he had spoken up against his housemates, there was no doubt in his mind that he would have been strung up for it. He had created a complete mess for not only himself but also his friends. He knew that none of this was going to end well.

* * *

Obnoxious laughter drifted on that air while Iris stomped down the corridor. She rolled her eyes as she recognized that laughter though she couldn't help herself from smiling slightly. Perhaps she should stay with the boys for a while as she really needs a distraction from the rage she felt for Severus. A few good laughs with the Marauders would surely warn away the intense emotions about her friend. Honestly, how could someone just stand there while their classmates insult their friend, who they've known for years, with such derogatory terms as 'Mudblood'. Iris just needed to calm down before she exploded due to her rage! Though she knew that hexing Severus would calm her down immensely.

Her anger induced rant was cut short by the compartment door sliding open abruptly in front of her. A large cocky smirk greeted her as Sirius leaned against the door frame. He ran a hand through his hair arrogantly while he looked down at the redhead appreciatively. "Ah, love." he greeted her, "I was wondering where you were."

Iris snorted in amusement and forced herself to return the smirk, "well, you don't have to wonder anymore." She pushed past him and plopped down into the seat next to Remus.

The boys shared a confused look with each other as they could instantly feel the irritation radiating off of her. It almost frightened each of them to even mention her obvious anger. They weren't sure what she was angry about, but they could tell that it bothered her quite a bit. They didn't really want to ask her what was wrong… but they knew her emotions would fester and bubble over later on. They all cringed as they imagined her emotional explosion over it.

"Are you alright, Iris?" Remus asked hesitantly.

Iris scoffed as her eyebrows furrowed, "of course I am." Her eyes narrowed dangerously at the boy, "why? Do I not seem alright?"

The boys jumped in alarm at her bitter tone, "n-no!" Peter squeaked out in fright when her predatory gaze shifted over him. He did not want to be torn apart by the redhead who was obviously furious about something. Peter was completely a coward, and he was completely fine with that if it meant he lived another day.

"Well…" James drawled out as Sirius shoved him over in order to sit next to him. "You do seem a bit… frustrated, to put it lightly."

Iris blinked at his observation and rolled her eyes. "Yes, thank you for that, Potter. Now, why don't we drop the subject."

"If something's botherin' you, you can tell us, you know," Sirius commented with a soft smile that he reserved for only Iris. The other boys couldn't help themselves but snicker at Sirius' behavior. It always baffled them how Sirius changed when Iris was around. Don't misunderstand, Sirius was still the same mischievous, troublesome, and reckless teen he usually was. It was just whenever Sirius was talking to the girl or about her it was like he was put under a trance. His eyes would gloss over with an emotion that the boys could barely recognize. There was a softness behind his eyes when he spoke fondly about her or even gazed at her from afar. It was slightly strange to observe Sirius being so whipped with one girl! It was practically unheard of Sirius focusing on one girl for such a long time as it was known he usually became bored with a girl only after a week(three weeks at most).

Behind his words, they all could hear the underline meaning of his words. It wasn't just the group that she could trust and rely on, but he was worthy of her trust. He could only act like this towards his redheaded beauty. These strange actions were meant for Iris and Iris alone. It was obvious to just about everyone, excluding Iris, that he seemingly cared for the girl immensely. It could even be argued that Sirius was deeply in love with Iris Evans. Of course, he would refute that claim and argue that he was only interested by her and their shared traits.

Iris sighed, "I know I can, but I don't want to talk about it." Iris hated speaking about her emotions. She didn't like the way that people fussed over her because they may have been something wrong. The way that people got so sappy over certain situations and cried always made her uncomfortable. That didn't mean she didn't try to comfort her sister or even close friends whenever they were upset. Though she usually had trouble talking about her own feelings because she found listening to be far easier than talking. She would much rather keep her own emotions to herself and play around with others, as if it were a game. It happened to be her favorite pastime to partake in. However, she seemed to be ignorant to the fact that she was slowly failing to see that she was becoming a pawn in her own game.

Sirius' eyes hardened as he started to think about what could have possibly upset Iris. His mind had instantly jumped and grabbed onto the idea that it was Severus who had troubled her so much. Once he got his hands on that slippery snake he was going to use a plethora of curses and hexes on him. He also planned to use all of the unforgivable curses and he didn't care if he was thrown in Azkaban for it. It was such a scary thought to think that Sirius would willingly let himself be thrown into the morbid prison meant for the worst dark wizards in history for this one girl. He had never been so… passionate about someone in his life!

"It was Severus wasn't it," he sneered out the boy's name like it was poison.

Iris huffed and stayed silent for a moment as the boys tried to figure out if it was true. From the few seconds that Iris glared at the floor, they could tell that Sirius' assumptions were right.

"No." Iris seethed as her cheeks started to grow red from frustration, "I'm not upset! Why do you think I'm upset!"

James decided to intervene before anyone else could further anger the redhead. "Okay! Why don't we calm down? We don't want to leave on a bad note, right?" He chuckled nervously.

Iris took a deep breath and ran her dainty hand through her hair. James was right. She didn't want to argue with her friends over something that they weren't involved with. If she did tell them what had happened a few minutes ago, there was no doubt in her mind that they would go after the group of Slytherins. She didn't want to be the reason the boys were kicked out of the school because they decided to defend her in some way. Honestly, she didn't want to make the situation worse than it already was.

"Sorry, sorry. You're right."

James flashed her a large, smug smirk as he adjusted his glasses on his face. "I'm right? Godric, I never thought I'd ever hear you say that to me, Iris."

Iris couldn't help herself from smiling despite the obvious annoyance that was swirling in her gut. She could deal with the Severus incident at a later date. Though she has to admit, if Severus does end up showing up at her house for the holiday he was in for a hell of a time. However, at the moment, she would allow herself to be consumed by playful banter, teasing and jokes and distract her from her rage.

* * *

"Happy Christmas, boys." Iris cheered as she smiled brightly at the group of her friends in front of her.

The Hogwarts Express had just arrived at the King's Cross station. Students piled out of the large red engine with haste as they searched for their families with large, bright smiles. Though no toothy smile from an excited first year could rival the one that Iris was sporting. Her rage had diminished to a small throb in her chest after she spent quite a long time joking around with the Marauders.

At the moment, Iris was saying goodbye and wishing her friends a happy Christmas and, probably against her better judgment, inviting them to a small New Years party. The Evans didn't throw extravagant parties as they usually didn't have too many people to invite, however, each year they still had small get-togethers with close friends and family. Although, this year would most likely be a bigger party because the entire family would be home for the holidays. Of course, Iris couldn't pass up the opportunity to invite some of her best mates for the small get together.

"I'll owl you the invitations later!"

The boys all simultaneously nodded their heads happily at the notion of going to a party. Plus, neither Sirius or James would pass up the chance to actually go to the Evans' household and see where their lady loves lived.

"I suppose now I'll get to go home with you," Sirius cheekily joked as he wrapped his arm around Iris' shoulder while he led her off the train and onto the platform itself. Iris laughed lightly at the reference.

"Let's just hope that you get on my father's good side, darling." She couldn't help herself from teasing the shaggy hair teen and scare him slightly with the prospect of her father being quite scary. Sirius tensed slightly but brushed it off with a chuckle and ran a hand through his hair.

After saying goodbye and them wishing each of them a good break, they all went their separate ways in search of their parents/guardians. Iris skipped over to her sister who was tightly hugging Wendy who returned the embrace with the same amount of strength. It was like they were having a competition to see who could suffocate the other first.

"I'll miss you guys!" Marlene cried out as she gripped Iris and brought her into her own hug. Iris yelped in alarm before allowing herself to be nearly crushed by the brunette.

"You're coming over to our house for the party, aren't you?" Iris wheezed out went she was finally let go by her friend. Marlene nodded her head rapidly. "Then you'll see us then…"

"But that's too far away! I'm still going to miss you all!" Marlene cried out which earned a laugh out of the red-headed girl.

"You're right!" Iris cried out dramatically as she played along with her, "I can't spend that long away from you, my friend!" Lily and Wendy giggled as they watched the interaction. They couldn't decide which of the girls was more dramatic!

"Happy Christmas, Iris," Wendy laughed out and hugged the girl quickly. A shout of an older man pulled her attention away from her friends and towards her father. Edward Hunt was a heavyset man with plump cheeks that were painted with a rosy hue of pink. His black hair was slick back with gel in order to keep his hair prim and proper. He wore some robes that obviously indicated that he worked in the ministry. "See you guys!" She cheered before grabbing her trunk and running off to her father who greeted her warmly with a hug.

"Iris! Lily!" They heard a shout further away from them. They turned their heads to see their father bounding over to them happily. As soon as he got close enough he swept his daughters up into a hug that was fueled by his joy of seeing them both.

"Dad!" The girls squealed in unison as they laughed at their father's excitement. Craig was such an excitable person and his emotions always rub off on the people around him. He could fill an entire room with his bright smile and friendly personality.

After a few moments of hugging his daughters, Craig finally let them go. "Oh, we are so happy you're both home this year."

Iris looked over his shoulder to look for her mother with a wide smile. She was glad to see the familiar faces of her parents. She definitely had missed her parents and felt like she didn't make a mistake when she decided (more like Lily forced her) to come home for the holidays. "Where's mum?"

"She's at home with Petunia," Craig explained as his words were drenched in an apology and disappointment. He and Octavia both wanted to be at the platform to greet their daughters, but their eldest daughter and thrown a tantrum. You would think a girl her age would learn to be civil and mature, but Petunia seemed to be an exception to that idea.

Iris couldn't help herself but scowling, "Petunia didn't want to welcome home a pair of freaks."

Craig sighed, "come on, you're mum's anxious for you to come home."

The twins collected their trunks and said one final goodbye to Marlene who had finally found her family before they started to follow their father towards the barrier that separated the boring muggle world from the extravagant wizarding world. Iris was definitely going to hate leaving behind the mystical wonders of the magical world, but she would endure it for a short while in order to see her family.


	8. The New Muggle in Town

**IRIS SHIFTED IN HER BED AS SHE** pulled her blankets closer around her body to keep herself warm. She sighed in content as she cracked her eyes open slightly to take in her surroundings. She was greeted with the light blue walls of her shared bedroom with Lily. Pictures of family and friends, old and new, decorated the walls and shelves in the slightly large room. Of course, none of them were moving like the pictures and paintings that Iris had come to love in the magical world. She honestly preferred the pictures that smiled and waved back instead of the ones that just stared back at you and did nothing. The muggle world was completely boring.

Iris snuggled further into her soft blankets and tried to sleep in. A bright light shined through the curtained window which meant that it was morning. She could only thank Merlin that Lily had actually let her sleep in than waking her up to do something that she would more than likely hate that morning. It was an unspoken agreement that when they were at home and they didn't have anything to do, Lily would leave Iris alone for at least most of the morning. Lily would permit Iris to get up at her own time for the first few days they were home for vacation.

Though Iris didn't feel tired at that moment. Perhaps that was because she had crashed onto her bed as soon as she got home. She didn't even bother to eat or even change her clothes. The exhaustion that consumed her the other day had drained her to the point where she had hopped into bed as soon as she could.

Of course, no one would likely bother her because it was officially the first day of Winter break. The Evans family knew that if they disturbed her before even eleven o'clock they would be risking the possibility of raising hell inside their home.

Shadow was basking in the sun that filtered through the curtains as he laid at the foot of Iris' bed. Just like his owner, he had no intention of getting up. Though he usually spent all of his days napping all over the place! It was no wonder the two got along so well. Both were troublesome and enjoyed sleeping perfect match.

Iris ran a lazy hand through her hair that was sticking up in all sorts of directions. She yawned loudly and sat up slightly in her bed. Her side of the room was a complete disorganized mess. Papers littered the floor underneath her desk as sticky notes with chicken scratch written on them were posted all on her desk, lamp, and walls. She had a few posters of Muggle musicians and films that she liked.

Lily's was the complete opposite. Everything had a place on her side and if one thing was out of place, Lily would throw a hissy fit about it being misplaced before she fixed it. While Iris was comfortable with the chaos on her side of the room, Lily had always complained about how much of a 'slob' she was. Iris didn't see herself as a slob because she never lost anything in their room. She had her own system. Her room may have been a mess but it was an organized mess that only she could navigate. Lily just couldn't understand her logic.

Iris swung her feet over the side of her ruby colored bed and wrapped a thin, soft blanket around herself. She shuffled around the room in order to sit at her desk that was painted in ideas, formulas, and spells. She started to rifle through her messy piles of paper and lazily read what was on them.

She stretched her back while she read over a few lists of ingredients that she had written down during the summer. The list was titled 'Sweets'. They displayed the ingredients of some experimental tricks that Iris had yet to perfect. Unlike the ones that she had used to prank the entire student body of Hogwarts, the ones she had written down were not ready for testing. So far she had only been able to get a few of her ideas to work, including the four trick sweets that she used a few months ago.

She had a few more ideas for some sweets that could transform someone into different animals and some shoes that made every step the wearer took impossible to hear (which made them perfect for sneaking up on someone). She just needed to do some further research into proper ingredients and spells that she had to use. Honestly, Iris spent more time on creating tricks than she did spending time with her family whenever she was home. It was no wonder that Iris didn't have many friends in their town because she rarely ever left her room.

She spent nearly an hour reading through some of her textbooks about certain plants and spells that she would have to use to create some tricks on her list. She could already hear the hoots and hollers of kids playing outdoors in the snow. If she could, she would have used a muffling charm or something so she couldn't hear their screams. She did like to have some quiet when she worked.

Just as she was reading a passage in her Herbology textbook, the door to her bedroom creaked open and a head of red hair peaked into the room. Lily surveyed their room to find Iris sitting at her desk with her blanket wrapped around her shoulders and was enraptured in a book. She cleared her throat to get her sister's attention but didn't receive any sort of indication that she had heard. She tried once again and sighed in frustration as she crossed her arms over her chest when Iris still didn't turn to her. "Iris-"

The older twin raised her hand towards Lily in a gesture that said 'one moment'. After a few more seconds of reading, Iris finished the page and finally turned to her sister. "Hmm?"

Lily smiled as the slight annoyance at her sister was washed away as she remembered why she came into their room in the first place. "I came to see if you were awake." She explained as she walked over to stand next to Iris and looked over her shoulder to see what she was doing. Iris was scribbling some words down onto a piece of parchment. Lily could barely read the scribbles that resembled an abstract painting more than words. "I'm surprised to see that you are awake before noon," she exclaimed in disbelief with a slight giggle.

"You wanted something right?"

"Well, mum made you lunch before she left-"

Iris' eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "left? Where did she go?" She knew that her father still had work today and didn't expect to see him until about dinner time. Petunia had also no doubt left as soon as she could to get away from her younger sisters. Honestly, Iris had no idea why Petunia hated them so much!

Lily rolled her eyes when Iris cut her off, "If you paid attention yesterday, then you would have heard mum say that she was going out with her friends." She smirked lightly, "and that she wanted the two of us to go outside today."

The statement caused Iris to groan loudly in protest and slump in her chair. It was the first day of Winter break, she didn't want to go outside and endure the cold weather. All she wanted to do was stay inside and go over the notes she had for pranks!

"Lily!"

Her sister laughed at her whining while patting her shoulder in mock sympathy. "Oh, I know. Poor Iris actually has to leave our room for a few hours, the horror!"

Iris huffed at the fact that Lily was making fun of her and pouted. "Meanie…"

"Now come on, get ready! We'll eat and then I want to go to Quinn's," she sweetly continued as she moved to exit their bedroom. Iris stuck her tongue out at her childishly while she continued to pout. She wasn't going to go outside when she obviously had some important matters to attend to here! "If you come with me we'll get some ice-cream!"

* * *

Okay, so maybe Iris' work wasn't that important… she could spare some time outside. Especially when she was bribed with such treats as ice-cream (curse her inability to say 'no' to sweets). At the moment she was trudging through the snow covered roads behind her sister as they were headed towards the small bookshop that was a short walk from their house.

The town that they lived in was small. Everyone knew everyone and everyone knew everything about their neighbors. Of course, the twins were an exception as nobody was none the wiser to the fact that they were witches. It was a peaceful place to live which bored Iris quite a bit.

Ever since she was young, she always dreamt of leaving the quiet town to move to somewhere like London. She wanted more excitement in her life. Though she sure got it when she found out she was a witch. Forget London! She now wanted to live somewhere in the magical world where she could freely use magic when she was of age.

Because Iris found the town boring and rarely ever left her home, she didn't have friends in town. She knew a few kids in town because she had gone to school with them when she was young, but ever since she started attending Beauxbatons and now Hogwarts, she lost all contact with the muggles she barely knew. She didn't mind it though.

She kicked the snow that was at her feet and shivered. There was no wind to bite at her skin or snowflakes to layer her body in a cold blanket, however, she was still cold. Even though she wore a long-sleeved shirt, jumper, heavy coat, long pants, and mittens. Merlin, she hated winter.

"Stop looking so angry," Lily commented as she glanced at her sister who looked like she just ate a lemon. "You don't have to be so sour about being outside, you know."

Iris huffed and stuffed her hands in her coat pockets. "It's far too cold out here, couldn't you've done this on your own?"

"Yes. But I thought it would be good for you to come outside and actually spend some time out of the house."

Iris' expression was void, "I couldn't have had just one day to myself?"

Lily smirked, "no." Iris groaned but continued to follow along the road towards the bookshop.

It took them about twenty minutes of walking to make it to the small bookshop that was nestled tightly into the middle of town. It was the smallest shop on the road which was a feat in itself as most of the buildings were quite small. The worn down sign above the front door was barely readable due to the words starting to vanish after being exposed to all kinds of weather for such a long time. 'Quinn's' was written in faded cursive letters and decorated with vine-like golden designs.

Lily loved this small shop and spent most of her time when there they were home. It was really one of the only places she hung out at with the minimal amount of muggle friends that she had from primary school.

A soft bell rung out in the small shop from above the door. The twins rushed through the door in order to shield themselves from the cold. Iris sighed as she allowed the warm air from the shop to consume her entire body. She smiled happily at the warm feeling and rubbed her hands together.

Rustling was heard from behind the front counter as they ventured further into the small shop. On the other side of the counter, they were able to see a tuft of chestnut hair poking out from behind the mahogany counter. A soft voice hummed a merry tune while whoever was behind the counter rummaged through some papers. After only a minute longer, an old woman popped out from behind the counter. Her elderly eyes finally came to rest on the set of twins which caused a toothy smile to blossom on her aged lips.

"Ah, Lily!" She exclaimed as she briskly stepped out from behind the counter to smother the girl in a strong hug. "I was wondering when I'd see you. How is that boarding school of yours?"

Quinn Adams was a lovely, older woman who owned the bookshop. To most people in the town, she was like their honorary grandmother. She welcomed everyone in the town into her home and honestly acted like everyone's grandmother! She fussed about whether or not someone ate their meals, scolded the children who skipped school and baked the best cookies.

Lily smiled warmly at the old brunette, "it's going well, we're going to have exams soon so we've been studying quite a lot."

Her gaze finally moved over to Iris and her smile seemingly widened. Iris was worried that she would split her face in half with how large her smile was. "Oh, I haven't seen you in such a long time, Iris!" She gushed and enveloped the slightly older girl into her arms in a tight hug. Iris was certain that Lily had inherited her ability to hug so tightly from Quinn.

Iris couldn't help herself but laugh at the older woman's contagious enthusiasm. "I know, Quinn. It's nice to see you."

"Oh, my!" Quinn cooed and backed away from Iris to brush a piece of hair from the redhead's forehead so she could get a good proper look at her. "I haven't seen you in such a long time."

Iris smiled sheepishly at the older woman as she could already imagine the reprimanding that she was about to receive. "I know, sorry about that Quinnie-"

"You rarely ever come to the shop anymore!" Here we go, Iris couldn't help herself but think. "Each summer you lock yourself in your room and you haven't been home for Christmas-"

"But I am home for this Christmas!" Iris interjected. Quinn scowled and wacked Iris on the head as punishment for interrupting her. "Ow!"

"No letters or anything! I thought you were dead, young lady! Lily had to let me know you were okay. And your parents, bless them, missed you terribly."

Iris sighed sadly, "I really am sorry, Quinnie. I suppose I was having too much fun at school to leave."

Lily rolled her eyes and took the opportunity to escape the scolding Iris was getting. She slowly backed away and disappeared behind one of the shelves. She did not want to be dragged into Quinn's chastising like she knew Iris would try to do.

Quinn flashed her a deadly glare, "apparently too much fun to let me know that you were at least alive!"

Iris cringed as her tone and gnawed at her bottom lip. She knew that her apology wasn't going to amount to much. "I'll send you letters all the time from now on!" She declared in hopes to sooth the old woman's anger. Quinn could be such a sweet woman if you were on her good side, but Iris was all too familiar with Quinn's bad side and how she could turn into a fire-breathing dragon sometimes when she was angry.

"You better, young lady." Quinn sternly said while pointing a finger in her face which caused Iris to go cross-eyed. "Or else I'll march up to that fancy school of yours and drag you back here!" Iris rolled her eyes at the absurd notion. Quinn rested a hand on her chin in contemplation, "I'll have you do some work for me around the shop!" She nodded her head which caused Iris' eyes to widen.

"Now Quinnie, let's not get ahead of ourselves here." Iris would have loved to help Quinn out at the shop… If the tasks she was assigned weren't so strange.

One summer, when Iris was about twelve, Quinn had employed Iris. The girl hadn't minded it too much the first few weeks as She usually just had to restock shelves with books or make deliveries. However, the tasks seemed to get more absurd!

At one point, Quinn was having Iris follow certain people around town. If that wasn't creepy enough, it was as if Iris was apart of some sort of gang! She followed these people in order to retrieve payments for books they had either "borrowed" or vowed they would pay for. Iris did find some sort of entertainment from it, but she didn't think that it was necessarily a job that a twelve-year-old should have been doing. Besides, Quinn was a wonderful woman, but a terrifying boss. Iris didn't want to face a strict, boss-like Quinn ever again! She was perfectly content with just seeing Quinn as her pseudo-grandmother.

Quinn's lips were stretched in a thin line and, for a second, Iris thought she was being scolded by Professor McGonagall. The older woman's eyes were narrowed in skepticism but she let go of the topic. "Alright, alright! But the moment I don't get a letter, I'm calling your mother!" She threatened.

Iris nodded her head vigorously as she smiled, "I missed you, Quinnie."

The old woman smiled brightly and hugged her once again, "I did too." She let her go, "now go off with your sister and choose a book, call it an early Christmas present."

"You're the best, Gran!"

Quinn smiled at the fact that Iris saw her as a grandmother. Oh, it always warmed her heart when most of the people in their town welcomed her into their families just as she welcomed them into hers. If it wasn't for the friendliness that just about everyone in this small town had, Quinn would be a very lonely lady.

She lived on her own in a small cottage on the outskirts of town. Her husband, Reginald Adams, had died nearly two decades ago. Without her Reginald, the house became empty, especially after her children had grown into adults and seemingly disappeared from her life. Oh, they had moved on with their lives to live far away in large cities and foreign countries which left their poor mother alone and grieving. Evidently, they had no need for her any longer. She lost all contact with each of her four children and never met their wives and husbands along with their children. It hurt her that they had cut her out of their life for some odd reason, but the people she had met since then had made up for her heartbreak. Quinn viewed Lily, Iris, Petunia (shockingly) and many other children in the town as her grandchildren as she tended to see them almost on a daily basis.

She glanced over at the two girls as Lily bounced over to Iris with a few books held in her hands and started to talk about them. Her bright eyes were filled with wonder and excitement just as Iris appeared to be curious about the novels and stories she had picked. The interaction brought a fond smile to Quinn's face as she laughed lightly under her breath. Yes, Quinn was very glad to be welcomed into the hearts of so many unique people.

* * *

Iris and Lily trailed along the road once again as a few cars drove past them. The other shops around Quinn's were quite busy as it seemed many people were trying to buy some last minute presents for Christmas. After maneuvering through the throngs of people who greeted them happily and asked them about school, they had finally started the short walk to the parlor. Of course, the twins were polite and nice while talking to them before they headed their separate ways.

The eldest of the twins was itching to get to the ice-cream parlor as fast as they could. Not only did it mean that they got their treats faster but also get home quicker which ultimately meant that she could get back to her scheming as fast as possible.

Lily, on the other hand, wanted to take her time and actually enjoy the outdoors. The two of them bantered together and Lily was extremely glad that she was able to get Iris out of the house. Despite the fact that she had to bribe her sister, Lily appreciated the fact that Iris still came.

Soon enough, amidst their sisterly banter, the parlor came into view. Despite it being winter and extremely cold out, the parlor was still open and seemingly never closed. There could be a blizzard and 'Freezing Point' would still be open!

"What are you going to get?" Lily asked.

Iris pursed her lips and thought for a moment, "dunno… you think they have butterbeer flavor?" She joked which caused the two girls to laugh. "Guess I'll just get chocolate chip or something."

While Iris was contemplating which flavor of ice-cream she would get, along with her toppings, a voice startled her from her thoughts. "Lily is that you!?"

The voice, shrill and high-pitched, caused Iris to cringe at the strange sound. Oh, she recognized that voice and at that moment she wished she knew how to apparate. Because she would love to be far, far away from the people she knew were running over to them.

Lily turned around to see who had yelled out to them and came face to face with three other teens their age. She instantly recognized two out of the three which caused her to smile and jump towards the trio. "Samantha!"

Iris groaned as she knew that they were not going to get away from the group. She despised Samantha Pratt and Oscar Reynolds. When they were younger and Iris attended school with them, they had constantly pestered her and bothered her no matter where she went to school. She didn't understand why they acted mean to her when they were younger, but he didn't care anymore. All she wanted was to be left alone by them. But that was nearly impossible. It also didn't help that Lily was such good friends with them!

Samantha was the definition of a dumb blonde, plain and simple. She was far worse than some of the vellas that Iris had the pleasure of meeting at Beauxbatons. Her hair was long and almost white due to how blonde it was. Iris was certain that the girl bleached her hair nearly every day. Samantha wouldn't be able to tell between her left and her right if Oscar wasn't there to remind her which was which. She always wore ugly shades of pinks and purples that always gave Iris a headache.

Oscar was a stuck up boy who thought he knew everything. Smartass would be the term that Iris would really use to describe him. Every time he had some sort of smart-aleck remark (that was usually aimed at Iris) he would push his glasses up the bridge of his nose over his sky blue eyes. Not only that, but he always had this patronizing smile plastered on his face when he spoke to someone he thought was dumb (which was just about everyone). Yet he didn't know everything, did he? Of course, he had no idea that magic was real and that, in fact, Iris and Lily were witches themselves. Oh, she could imagine the look on his face if he ever did find out! She wished she could rub it into his face that he didn't know everything.

If he was a bit more arrogant and actually likable, now that she thought about it, Iris was certain that he and James Potter could have been brothers. They looked scarily similar though, besides that, there was no way that the two boys would ever get along. Mainly because of the fact that it was known the muggle had fancied Lily ever since they were children. Though Lily was oblivious to that fact.

The third teen, Iris didn't recognize at all. She didn't think that she had gone to school with him because she was certain she would remember a boy like him. She had no doubt he was a cute little ten-year-old in primary due to how handsome he was now. His face was quite chiseled and Merlin, his jawline was so defined! Iris would not complain about actually speaking to him if it meant enduring Samantha and Oscar. His hair was the perfect shade of brown and had a look that screamed 'I just woke up'. For some odd reason, Iris had the urge to run her fingers through his hair… Damn her teenage hormones!

"We had no idea you were back already!" Samantha's scratchy voice exclaimed while she hugged Lily.

"We arrived back yesterday-" Lily started to explain but was cut off, as usual, by Oscar.

"And you didn't think to call us then," he tutted and adjusted his square glasses, "I'm disappointed, Lillian."

Said girl smiled sheepishly and rubbed her hands together, "I'm sorry, Oscar. Iris was quite exhausted, so I decided not to do anything."

"Oh," Oscar nodded his head while he casted a quick, hard look at Iris. He turned his head back and stuck his nose up into the air. It was as if he was blaming her for the fact that he didn't get to see his beloved Lillian sooner. "I see."

"We missed you a lot, Lily!" Samantha gushed while linking her arm with Lily's. "You as well, Iris." Samantha quickly inputted bordley as it was quite obvious she wasn't that thrilled with actually seeing the twin of her good friend. Though it wasn't like Iris was happy either.

"Yeah, woo, happy reunion." Iris cut in harshly, "Could we perhaps go somewhere warmer? I'm freezing here."

"Oh yes, I forgot you were susceptible to getting cold easily, Iris." Said Oscar in his infamous no-it-all tone with a cocky smirk. "You know, most people can endure cold weather such as this for quite a long time. I suppose you're just too weak to do so."

Iris glared at the boy and clenched her hands into fists as they were resting in her pocket. "If I could take my hands out of my pockets, I would punch you, Oscar," She sneered.

The other boy chuckled at the heat in her words as he found her to be amusing. "Perhaps I could do it for you, I've been dying to knock this dumbass out for a while now."

Iris looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips. His accent was something that she had only ever heard in films and music. It was actually refreshing to hear such a strange accent. Iris liked it quite a lot. "And you are…"

Before the boy could reply himself, Oscar interrupted and decided that he would introduce the other boy himself. "This is Derek Higgs." Iris rolled her eyes but listened nonetheless, "he moved here a few months ago from America. If you actually left your home every once and a while, then you would know this."

Iris growled while glaring at him for his slight against her. "Where's my wand…" She muttered under her breath quietly so only she and Lily could hear it. She wished that she was old enough to use magic without breaking the law. Only a little bit longer before she and Lily would be allowed to use magic outside of school…

Lily quickly intervened before anything could happen, "why don't we all go to Freezing Point, we can catch up then."

The muggles nodded their heads in agreement as they all turned to walk towards the parlor. Iris scowled as they walked. While Samantha gossiped to Lily with Oscar inputting his own smart-aleck comments, Iris and Derek followed behind the trio in silence. She wished she had said no to ice-cream.

* * *

Iris tried to divulge herself in her chocolate chip ice-cream cone with sprinkles and caramel sauce in order to ignore the teens who sat around her. She felt completely out of place and would rather have Regulus and Lucius bothering her right about now. Actually, no. No, she would take Samantha and Oscar over those snakes any day, but she still wouldn't like it.

Samantha, at the moment, was telling Lily all about the drama that had occurred while they were gone. Iris didn't really care. She spoke about people that Iris didn't know and had no intention of knowing. She really didn't want to know who was shaggin' who and who cheated on their girlfriends/boyfriends. All she wanted was to enjoy her ice-cream in peace! However, she couldn't do that with Samantha's annoying voice and Oscar's constant corrections. At least Derek was decent to be with.

The boy was actually quiet while sitting down and eating his own treat. Every once in a while he had commented on something the others said before becoming quiet again. For the time being, Iris decided to observe the new boy and actually get a good scene to what he was like.

She thought he would be the type of boy who was quite charming and suave yet sweet and caring. He could make any girl weak in the knees while being a complete gentleman about it. Though, to Iris, he did see him as being the type of boy who was oblivious to how many girls would be swooning over him. Maybe he was a funny boy. Based on his comment about punching Oscar, Iris could tell that he had a decent sense of humor. If he wasn't hanging out with Samantha and Oscar, Iris would think that he was a decent guy. However, he must be an idiot to be friends with those two numpties.

"So you and your sister go to a boarding school?" Derek asked when he noticed that Iris was staring at him. He chuckled lightly when he saw her jump out of her thoughts. He found that to be quite cute.

"Hm? Yeah." Her reply was blunt.

Derek smiled a white, toothy grin as he leaned towards her further. "You must be pretty smart to go to one, right?"

Iris scoffed while shrugging her shoulders, "not really, the school accepts anyone, really."

"So if I wanted to go-"

"No, no." Iris quickly denied, "sorry, the school doesn't accept everyone, besides… you can only apply when you're eleven."

Her sheepish explanation seemed to be enough for Derek as he nodded his head. "Oh, alright."

They were dragged back into silence as they lost the topic they were talking about. Iris looked away and suddenly found herself interested in her napkin on the table. Derek scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"So where in America are you from?" Iris coughed out.

Derek's eyes brightened, "all over the place, I guess." He started off, "my parents always moved around the country for their work. I've lived in Florida, New York, California, Texas, Massachusetts, and Tennessee."

Iris whistled lowly, "that's quite a lot of moving about. I don't think I would stand moving around that much."

Derek waved his hand and shrugged, "it wasn't too bad. I met a lot of nice and cool people from different places."

"And now you moved here?"

"Yeah, it's completely different than say Georgia!" He laughed. Iris smiled at his amusement and joined him in chuckling lightly.

"Hope it isn't too bad," Iris interjected.

Derek shook his head while taking a bite of his ice-cream (he had ordered some chocolate mousse with whipped cream and chocolate chips). "Not at all! Everyone's really nice. Besides, this ice-cream is really good!"

Iris raised an eyebrow before smirking, "really, I've never tried chocolate mousse before." With that being said, Iris reached over and took the spoon from Derek's hand just as he was about to eat a spoonful of his ice-cream. While keeping eye contact, Iris licked the ice-cream and hummed in delight. "You're right. It is pretty good."

Derek's lips curled upwards and laughed lightly, "you're straightforward, aren't you?"

Iris' smirk widened as her eyes flashed with mischief that Derek could already tell he was going to love. "You don't know the half of it."

Derek smiled bashfully and looked away. Iris could swear she saw a light shade of pink lick his cheekbones. Oh, Merlin, she's found herself another boy to emotionally torment!

"I guess you'll just have to show me then."

Iris bit her bottom lip, "I'm sure I will."

* * *

All of the teens finished their ice-creams and stood up from the table, paid, and left the small shop. Derek and Iris seemed to be talking quite a lot with each other. While Lily caught up with her own two friends, the other two had struck up a relationship unique in its own. The sky was starting to become dark as they realized it was getting close to dinner time. No doubt they would all have to head home soon or else their parents would grow angry due to them staying out later than they thought. Though they were all sure they could get their parents to understand that they had run into some friends they hadn't seen in such a long time.

Samantha launched herself onto Lily, "it was great to see you, Lily!"

Oscar nodded his head firmly and adjusted his glasses, "perhaps we should spend time together again, Lillian." Iris could hear the tone of his voice that said the 'we' in his statement meant him and Lily, nobody else.

Lily smiled brightly and pulled Oscar into a hug as well. Oscar seemed to become flustered at the girl's close proximity which caused his entire face to turn red. "I would love that!"

Samantha and Oscar finished their goodbye's and started to walk away in the opposite direction of where the twins had to go.

"It was nice meeting you both," Derek said though his eyes didn't seem to look away from Iris.

Lily smiled politely while looking between her sister and the boy. She could already tell what was going to happen between the two. And here she thought Iris was going to settle for just Sirius. "Nice meeting you too, Derek."

He nodded his head towards her and looked at her briefly before giving his attention back to Iris. "I hope we can hang out again, Iris."

"Yeah… I suppose so…" She breathed out with a teasing smile towards him as he started to walk backward and not looking away from her. Iris had laughed at the fact that it took him almost slipping on some ice that he decided to actually look where he was going. He chuckled at his own stupidity before shouting one final goodbye and following after the other two teens he had first arrived with.

The twins watched the trio go for a moment before heading in the direction of their home. Lily and Iris were quietly walking in the cold air of the small town. Angry clouds started to roll in overhead and looked as though they were ready to drop snow on them.

"It was nice to see Samantha and Oscar again," Lily commented. Iris scoffed but didn't say anything. She didn't want to upset her sister with her opinion on her friends. Lily gave her a side glance, "it was also nice to meet that other boy, Derek." Lily observed as Iris nodded her head and smirked slightly. "You two seemed to get along well."

Iris nodded her head, "yeah he's alright."

"You two couldn't keep your eyes off each other."

"Well, I'm a beautiful girl, he's a handsome boy. Was there any doubt we'd look away?"

Lily laughed at her sister's comment, "Godric, you're unbelievable."

"You still love me though!"


	9. Letters from their Boys

**BRIGHT CHRISTMAS LIGHTS DECORATED THE EVERGREEN TREE** that was in the Evans living room. It was early in the morning and everyone in the house was excited for Christmas. There were presents already under the tree in many different colored boxes. The clinking of glasses and bowls echoed in the kitchen as Octavia pulled out dishes to use for breakfast. She was ready to make a delicious breakfast for her family like she always did every year.

She pulled down pots and pan from the cupboards, grabbed produce from the fridge and looked for the proper utensils to cook with. She planned on cooking a large, hearty breakfast for the rest of the Evans clan. She knew how her husband and Iris could inhale their foods at a fast pace which meant that she had to cook mounds of food just to appease both of them.

She quickly grabbed some slices of bacon and put them in a pan. She pulled out flour, milk, and eggs and mixed them all together to make her infamous, fluffy pancakes. She worked around the kitchen gracefully as if she was a dancer.

Craig stretched his stiff back as he entered the kitchen from the hallway. His hair was a complete mess and looked as though he had just stuck his finger in an electrical socket. He yawned loudly and stumbled into the kitchen towards his wife.

He wrapped his arms around her waist as soon as he stood behind her. He sighed contently and kissed the side of her head. "Good morning, wife."

Octavia giggled as he hugged her waist tightly, "good morning, husband."

Craig stood with his wife in his arms as he watched her work her magic on the food. Despite having been married for over twenty years, Craig could never get used to the fact that he was able to call Octavia his wife. He was always on cloud nine due to the fact that he was living with his one true love who he never thought would say yes to him. Not only that, but he also had three lovely daughters with her that were just as beautiful as their mother. Most days, he would have to pinch himself to make sure that this wasn't all some elaborate dream.

"Would you like some help?"

Octavia laughed and looked over her shoulder with a teasing smile, "and let you burn something? I'd rather not have my kitchen go up in flames today, Craig."

Craig pouted but didn't object. He may love to eat, but he couldn't even make toast if he tried! The entire Evans family have forgotten the number of times Craig had nearly burned the house down when he tried to surprise his family with home-cooked meals. Of course, after a while, everyone decided that he was never to be left alone in the kitchen, ever.

Craig buried his head into Octavia's neck and kissed it lightly. "I suppose that's a good reason." He chuckled along with her as his heart swelled at the sound. God, he felt like a teenager in love sometimes with his wife.

Their daughters had been home for a few days at that point. Craig and Octavia spent all of their time listening to Lily talk about her classes and their upcoming exams, the dreaded O.W.L.s. At the same time, Iris was complaining loudly about them and how she didn't want to take them, at all. They did have to remind her that she needed to take the exams in order to not only pass her fifth year but also get a job after her schooling. Though most of the time they were able to stop her whining by asking about her pranks(especially the one that she had done at the begging of the year. Octavia just about chewed her ear off over getting a letter from the school about it. She nearly had a heart attack because she thought Iris had gotten herself expelled once again.). Petunia also barely gave them time to themselves as she would talk to them about her newest beau and their plans with each other (which always cause Craig's blood to boil).

The two of them hadn't had a moment to themselves in these past few days. The wanted to savor the short time they had together in that early morning without having to worry about any of the girls who were currently sound asleep in their beds. They did love their daughters unconditionally, but, every once in a while, they really wanted to enjoy just each others company.

Amidst their lovey-dovey moment, a constant tapping echoed in the kitchen. The two abruptly turned to the window that showcased the backyard. In the window was a moderately sized burgundy owl with two letters held in its beak.

The two glanced at each other before looking at the owl that held, what was no doubt, letters for Iris and/or Lily. Octavia walked out of her husband's arms and over to the window. She opened it up and let the poor owl who had to fly through the cold weather into the house where it fluttered over to the kitchen table. With the owl, a gust of frigid air bombarded the kitchen which caused Octavia and Craig to shiver.

They stared at the bird for a moment as it hopped around the kitchen table while hooting. It extended its neck towards Craig who stared at the bird worriedly. No matter how many times owls had flown to their house during the years the girls were at school, he could never get used to a domesticated animal such as an owl. He plucked two letters from the owls awaiting beak. It hooted once again and nipped lightly at his hand for attention. It was obviously looking for some sort of payment.

Craig disregarded the owl and instead looked down at the letters. "Looks like the twins have mail," he commented towards Octavia who was giving the tired owl some snacks.

She hummed, "I'm surprised that the girls hadn't gotten mail sooner. Who are they from?" He observed the letters and pouted. He didn't recognize the handwriting as any of the girls' friends. They weren't from anyone who attended Beauxbatons for Iris, however, they could be from a new friend that Iris made. Though now that he observed the one that was written with Lily's name on it, he groaned. "What?"

"Oh. They must be from that Potter boy…" He grumbled unhappily. He had half the mind of shredding the letters to tiny unreadable pieces. He had grown tired with the number of letters that Lily received from the boy since her first year at Hogwarts. He had half the mind to march up to that castle and find the boy who most certainly was obsessed with his youngest daughter. Though his wife was always there to reassure him that despite the boy writing an abysmal amount of letters to Lily over the vacations, it most likely didn't mean anything. Though he was still on edge about a boy being infatuated with his little girl. He didn't think she was ready to date a boy as he knew what boys got up to when they were teenagers.

The one addressed to Iris was not written in the same handwriting he had come to despise, and Craig could only dread the thought that another boy had become infatuated with his other daughter. It was bad enough that Lily was being pursued by some toe-rag (her words) and Petunia was head over heels with a man who Craig barley approved of, Vernon Dursley. Now Iris was being dragged into the drama with boys!

Yes, he had a feeling that Iris did have a thing with boys and tended to pal around with them more often than girls. However, he at least hoped that Iris wouldn't bother with boys for a while. By a while, he meant when he was long gone, so he wouldn't have to see some strange boy take her away from him. He knew Petunia was dying to get out and live her own life with a husband and he wished that wasn't true. The Potter boy also seemed to be trying to sweep Lily off her feet and he dreaded the day she told him that they were a couple. If Iris was stolen from him by a boy as well, then all of his little girls would grow up quick. He didn't want his little girls to grow up yet!

"James?" Octavia laughed lightly as she heard the loathing tone in her husband's voice. It didn't matter that it was James Potter, another boy could be courting any of their daughters and Craig would be just as upset about it. She was okay with her daughters dating. It would be quite hypocritical of herself if she didn't allow her own daughters to date as she used to date at their age. She approached him and peered over his shoulder to see the letters. She raised an eyebrow, "is he writing to Iris now, as well?"

"No, it looks like someone else is writing to Iris."

Octavia shook her head and plucked the letters out of Craig's hands as she could tell he was on the verge of tearing them apart. "They are getting to that age, Craig. Boys are starting to notice them and I would think they're starting to notice those boys."

Craig just about screamed at her words in horror as he didn't want to accept that fact, "no!"

"Merlin," Iris cringed as she stumbled into the kitchen with her hand over her ears. "What's wrong, dad?" She heard her father's shout and nearly fell over at the abrupt sound. For once she had actually woken up early due to it being Christmas Eve when her mother cooked a large breakfast. There was no way she was going to miss out on her mother's homemade meal!

Craig stared at her with wide eyes as if he was just caught with his hand in a cookie jar. He chuckled nervously, "nothing, nothing at all, Iris!"

She eyed him skeptically with pursed lips, "right…"

Octavia rolled her eyes at his dramatics and approached her daughter. "You and Lily got mail," she handed the letters to her while motioning to the owl who was hopping around the kitchen table.

Lily's eyebrows furrowed as she took the letters, "must be from Marlene or Wendy, I was suspecting they would be writing to us…" He sentence stopped when she saw the handwriting on the outside of the letters that were distinctly James' and Sirius'. "Oh," she smirked.

"'Oh'?" Craig asked almost urgently as he didn't like the expression on her face, "so you know who's writing you?"

Iris nodded her head and smirked at her father's alarmed state at the letters that he must have realized were from a pair of boys. "Yes, obviously Lily's is from her admirer… and mine is from my own." She shrugged her shoulders as if it wasn't a big deal and turned to head back to her bedroom.

She was able to hear her father's slightly angered, annoyed, and shocked shout of; "admirer!" before she disappeared down the hall with a snicker.

She would have gotten to her room scot-free if it wasn't for the milky white door of her older sister room being thrown open. Petunia's hair was a birds nest as her pajamas were completely disheveled and obviously showed that she had just rolled out of bed. Iris flashed a sarcastic smile, "well, good morning, sister dearest. Don't you look beautiful this morning!"

Petunia scowled at her freaky, younger sister and almost growled at her appearance. She held her nose high in the air to display her superiority she thought she held over the younger girl. Iris rolled her eyes at her attempt of trying to show that she was better than her as she was used to it at that point. Honestly, Iris would say that all three of them, her, Lily, and Petunia, had a close bond when they were younger. Even when the girls found out that they were witches, Petunia was just as excited for them as their parents. She even liked reading some of the books that Lily had and the eating the sweets and playing jokes that Iris would bring home.

Then after the twins actually did go to their respective schools, Petunia became cold and distant. Iris did miss the close bond that she had with her older sister but after she had constantly insulted her and Lily so much, Iris didn't bother trying to have a civil relationship with her. If Petunia wanted to act like a child and call them names, then Iris had no problem with retaliating by the means of pranks and snide remarks.

"Stuff it, freak!" Petunia exclaimed.

Iris smirked in amusement, "oh. Good come back, sure as hell scared me!"

Petunia huffed and clenched her fists. She stared at the amusement that danced on Iris' face with a frown. Iris infuriated her to no end. She hated the pranks she pulled, she hated the jokes she told, she hated the stories she told of her other freaky, little friends, she hated the gifts she would bring back from her schools… Maybe it wasn't really Iris fault that she hated her, but Petunia didn't want to blame herself for her own emotions…She hated her sister!

She shoved past Iris and pushed her into the opposing wall before stalking away towards the kitchen. Iris watched her go with a glare as she adjusted her band t-shirt and brushed it off as if Petunia had just whipped something onto it.

She straightened herself and continued to the end of the hallway to her shared bedroom. She wouldn't let Petunia get her into a bad mood like usually. It was Christmas Eve, after all. Plus she had these wonderful letters still clutched in her hand that herself and Lily had to read.

Iris sauntered through the door of her bedroom to find that Lily was wide awake and making her bed. The more mischievous twin snuck up behind Lily and jumped on her as soon as she had made her bed neatly. Lily yelped as she and her twin tumbled onto her nicely made bed. "Iris!"

The older girl only laughed in response as they bounce on the cream white bed as she could tell her sister was annoyed with her disturbance. "Lighten up, Lil. I've got a present for you!" She sang happily with an underlying tone of teasing mixed within her words.

Lily eyed her in confusion, "it's Christmas Eve, Iris. You're supposed to give me a present tomorrow morning…"

"Yes, yes, I know," she waved her hand dismissively before smirking, "but I'm quite sure James would rather you open it now."

At the mention of the annoying boy, Lily instantly stood up and regained her wits, "Potter!?"

Iris laughed at her sister's frightened look, "calm down," she pulled Lily by her arm and back onto her bed with a satisfying bounce. "It's not as bad as the others, I promise." Lily glared at her skeptically and Iris shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, well, I don't exactly know what it is, but what harm can a letter do?"

She handed (more like shoved) the letter to Lily and looked at her expectantly to open it. Lily eyed her a moment longer before turning her suspicious gaze to the letter in her hands. She knew that she would get a present from James at some point either before, during or after Christmas. She had gotten many presents from James ever since first year. Birthday presents, Christmas presents, Valentines Day presents, you name it. If it was some sort of holiday, James never missed the opportunity of giving her something. Most of the time the presents were of some sort of Quidditch team that Lily never cared about or something to do with Gryffindor. She never did like his presents, as she never liked him. Though she didn't expect James to write her a Letter. Just a letter.

With each present she received, she did always get a letter or some sort in which James would profess his love for her and ask her out. However, this was something new to her. It must have meant something bad, for James to only send a letter like this. No doubt in her mind it would just be an extensive list of reasons why she should go out with him and how he loved her so dearly. But from the expectant look on Iris' face, she was just as curious to know what James had to say.

They both knew James was more of a materialistic type of person and not so good with his words. So for him to only rely on writing something… was suspicious to say the least. "Oh, come on, you must be a little bit curious," Iris asked as she crossed her legs and leaned towards Lily.

Lily bit her lip in contemplation, "there must be something else that he sent… He couldn't have just mailed one letter…"

"Nothing else came with his owl," Iris said with a smirk. She gripped Lily's shoulder and shook it, "Now open it, I want to see what James had to say this time!" She cleared her throat, "Oh, my dear, lovely, beautiful flower! I shall love you for all eternity!" She mimicked James' voice the best she could, "date me!" She brought her sister into an embrace while squishing her tightly.

Lily squirmed and tried to break free of her sister's hold as she not only grew uncomfortable but also flustered at her teasing. She finally escaped Iris' hold and huffed in annoyance, "stop it, Iris! You're just as irritating as Potter."

"Oh, admit it, you love all the attention he gives you." Iris smugly said as she crossed her arms over her chest in triumph. Although, while she was blinded by her smugness, she hadn't realized that she just showed Lily the letter that Sirius had sent her.

"Did your precious boyfriend send you a letter as well," Lily pointed at the letter in her hands which caused Iris to instantly try to hide it from view.

"Nope!"

Lily tilted her head with a teasing expression as she tried to give Iris a taste of her own medicine. "Come on, you don't have to hide what Sirius gave you."

Iris rolled her eyes, "why do you suspect it's from Sirius? For all you know it could be from James." She really didn't want to let Lily know about Sirius' letter. Of course, Iris had yet to even take a peek into what was written on the parchment though she was slightly giddy to know what he had to say. She would never admit out loud about her emotions as she was slightly confused as to why she wanted to know what he wrote. She tried to pass it off as her missing his presence and messing around with him. She just missed seeing the embarrassment that would paint his face when she was able to flirt with him in front of people. Come to think of it… She missed staying up late with him and confiding in each other with their thoughts and problems… She missed seeing his mischievous grey eyes, his contagious smirk, his laughter… She shook her head out of her confusing thoughts and gulped slightly. Just because she missed certain aspects of Sirius didn't mean anything! Lily's words were getting to her! There was no way that Iris Evans fancied… Sirius Black…

"First, Sirius is staying with the Potter's for the break, second, he would not pass up the opportunity to have some sort of interaction with you, and third, that's his horrendous handwriting." Lily puffed out her chest in accomplishment as she stated how she knew Sirius wrote to her sister. She suspected that now Iris had started… some sort of relationship with Sirius that would no doubt become something more than just friends, Sirius would write to her and send her presents just like James did. The two boys were like twins themselves and did everything together. Yes, they were their own separate people, but there were times where they acted like the other. Lily had no doubt that in another life, the two were twin brothers.

Iris was silent as she considered her words and, yes, those were valid reasons. Iris also expected for Sirius to write to her because she was able to grab onto Sirius' emotions like she had to others in the past. The only difference was that Iris was… how would she describe it… anxious? Nervous? Perhaps that what it was. She was… excited for his letter. Oh, Merlin! Something was seriously wrong with her!

"Just read your letter Lily, I'm quite sure you don't want to read the more… crude things Sirius has written to me." Iris smirked as she watched Lily pale at the implication she was trying to say. Iris only winked while letting the notion sit and fester in Lily's mind before hopping over to her own bed and getting comfy.

Iris watched as Lily hesitantly opened up her letter. Lily's delicate hands pulled out the multiple papers that were painted in ink. Iris had wondered if James had written her a novel with the amount of parchment paper Lily pulled out of the envelope. Lily's face scrunched up in distaste as she started to read the first few words. After a moment, her face instantly was flooded with red as the dark hue swallowed each of her pale cheeks. The embarrassment that consumed her body was quite evident to Iris who could only snicker at her expression.

"What's the letter say, Lil?" She sang in amusement. Lily only glared back at her, however, it lost its intimidation because of her flaming cheeks.

Iris snickered while shaking her head and tore open her own letter in order to pull out the parchment. Compared to Lily's letter, it was far shorter than what James had written to her. Instead of about five lengthy pages of his declaration of love, Sirius had only written one page to Iris. She was at least grateful that SIrius wasn't that obsessed with her to write something as long as James had.

'Dear Princess,

I hope that your Christmas is going well so far. I know mine has been quite boring without seeing you. James has started to get annoying and has been begging to see his 'precious Lily' ever since we arrived at his home. Though I want to see you as much as he wants to see Lily. I can barely wait for the party you invited us to. I wish I could see you now because I can barely spend any longer away from you. That sounds cheesy doesn't it? Doesn't matter, it still stands. I miss pulling pranks with you and talking with you at our midnight rendezvous. It's been quite lonely without hearing your voice, even if James is here. I guess… I just miss you. I suppose I can survive a short time longer without you though it will be hell. Especially with James going on and on about your sister. However, he does say I do the same with you… We'll see you in a few days. Then we can finally have some fun together.

Love,

Sirius

Iris gnawed at her lip as she tried to keep the smile off of her face. She was already having a hard trying to keep the rosy paint of a blush off of her cheekbones. Merlin, if Lily saw her flustered state, Iris knew that she would tease her mercilessly. Who knew that Sirius was going to miss her so much… Iris had an inkling feeling that Sirius would miss her a tad bit, but she never imagined that she would miss him just as much…

"What did Sirius say?" Lily pulled her sister out of her thoughts as she tried to peer at the letter. Iris quickly folded the letter back up with care before Lily could catch a glimpse of what Sirius had written.

Iris flashed her the best smirk she could muster in order to hide her flustered appearance. "nothing that you would wish to read, Lil. It's far to private for even you to know." Hopefully Lily would just focus on the possible lewd letter that Sirius had written Iris and not notice the

Lily cleared her throat and rolled her eyes. Of course, even though Sirius and Iris were separated they were both still flirting like they weren't apart. Although she didn't have to know that the letter itself was a tad bit more… heartfelt than it was flirtatious. Iris only chuckled under her breath and took one long glance at the letter before standing up to put in away in her desk neatly. She wanted to make sure that the letter wasn't tampered with at all as she knew Lily would try to read it.

She didn't want to admit out loud that she felt warm and fuzzy inside due to Sirius' letter. She didn't want Lily to rub in her face that she was right about either her or Sirius falling for each other. Honestly, Iris didn't want to be proven wrong. Damn her pride and her inability to admit she was wrong. For now, she would just intentionally drown herself in denial. At least, until someone dragged her out of the rushing waves.

* * *

The smells of a delicious breakfast flew through the Evans house that beckoned the entire family into the small kitchen. Iris' mouth watered as she gazed on the table that was overflowing with succulent looking foods that she had missed while at school. The Evans family were huddled around the small kitchen table that had six seats at it. As the man of the house, Craig sat at the head of the table as he stared at the food just as hungrily as his daughters.

Octavia sat across from him on the other side of the table as she finally sighed in relief as she finished placing the last piping hot plate of sausages onto the mahogany table. Petunia glared at nothing in particular as she sat next to Lily on the left side of the table. If she had it her way, Petunia would have taken her plate, piled it with some food, and disappeared into her room so she didn't have to be anywhere near her freakish sisters. Iris was drooling on the other side of the table across from her sisters as she looked about ready to tear into the food in front of her like a starved Hippogriff.

Octavia laughed lightly at the longing looks on her daughter and husband's face, "you both look quite hungry."

Iris nodded her head in a trance, "yeah." She licked her lips in anticipation, "I've really missed your cooking, mum."

Octavia could see how Iris was holding herself back from lunging across the table and stuffing her face full of food. She swatted her daughters hand as she reached for a biscuit, "not yet. We've got to wait for Quinn."

She watched as Iris' bottom lip was jutted out as she pouted, "but mum! Quinny wouldn't mind!"

"She'll be here soon," her mother fondly chuckled at the impression that consumed the girl. This caused Iris to huff hotly as she crossed her arms in hopes of stopping herself from potential reaching out for the food. She could only gaze on them as they taunted her with mouthwatering smells. Her father wasn't doing so well either as he sat on his hands to stop himself. What could they say… They loved Octavia's cooking! "What about school, girls?" She asked in hopes of distracting them.

Iris sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "it's the same old same old, Hogwarts is smaller than Beauxbatons and whatnot. And to be honest, the classes are easier."

"That's not all," Lily interjected, "Iris has gotten far too many detentions this year!"

Iris glared at her sister for revealing that, but she didn't think it would really matter as it was nothing that their family wouldn't have thought would happen. "How many?" Craig asked with a sigh.

Iris tilted her head back and forth in contemplation, "Nearly one every night and weekend."

"Iris Evans!" Octavia exclaimed with only a small hint of shock and disbelief. It didn't matter if she reprimanded or punish Iris, she was going to continue to get into trouble.

"It isn't always my fault, honest!" Iris yelped in hopes that her parents wouldn't punish her by not letting her eat something.

"Oh? And who's fault is it that you constantly keep getting detentions?" Caig raised an eyebrow as he started to speculate. He had a slight inkling feeling that he already knew who the culprits were…

Iris' eye twinkled with trouble as she smirked, "the Marauders, of course."

Octavia turned to Lily, "isn't that the group of troublesome boys in your year?"

Lily nodded her head, "yes."

At the same time, Craig's eyes darted between the women at the table, "boys? Like that Potter boy?"

"Yup! They're some of my new friends," Iris explain as she could see the panic seemingly consumed her father's entire body. "Though I have to say that it's more James and Sirius' fault than anything."

"Sirius?" Her parents asked at the same time. Octavia's tone was more in curiosity and Craig's was obviously in alarm.

Lily couldn't help herself, "oh, yes, Iris' precious boyfriend."

Craig just about had a heart attack at his youngest daughters words. Boyfriend!? Iris' boyfriend!? He had a hard time stopping himself from falling out of his chair and passing out at the notion of his little girl already having some sort of boy claiming her. Oh God, he didn't think he could take it!

Iris grumbled, "he's not my boyfriend."

Octavia leaned on her elbows and leaned towards her middle child, "really?" She heard the flustered tone behind Iris' words and instantly became intrigued by the possible emotions that her daughter decided to keep hidden.

Iris rolled her eyes at the hopeful look on her mother's face as she realized what her mother wanted to hear. "Yes, he is not my boyfriend and never will be."

Craig slumped in his chair and held his hand over his chest in relief, "thank God." He cleared his throat as he saw the looks he was earning from his family. Both Lily and Iris were staring at him with blank expressions, Petunia was scowling, as always, and Octavia was looking at him in amusement. "You shouldn't be dating at this age, girls. You should be focusing on school and getting a job before getting involved with a relationship."

Iris let out a laugh, "I'm pretty sure that you just don't want me to date."

"No, no, you have far more important things to worry about, is all."

All of the women nodded their head sarcastically save Petunia who was still sulking at the table. Octavia turned to Iris, "are the… Marauders," she found the name to be somewhat strange, but what did she expect from a group of wizarding boys, "coming over on New Year's Eve?"

Iris smiled, "of course they are!"

Before Craig could protest about letting these boys who were constantly going after his daughters into his home, the front door burst open. Cold air rushed through the open door as a few quick snowflakes fluttered to the ground on the carpet which effectively started to dampen the red carpet. Quinn Adams, bundled in a thick coat and covered just about head to toe in snow. She shivered and shut the front door while pulling off her hood to show her rosy, aged face. Her smile lit up the already bright room as she sighed in pleasure.

"Oh, it's nice in here!" She unbundled herself from her layers upon layers of coats, scarves, and mittens. "Happy Christmas!"

"Happy Christmas!" The Evans family exclaimed as they all got up from the table to greet the woman in the living room. Hugs were shared, cheeks were pinched and kissed, and soon enough all the seats at the table were occupied.

Without anyone saying anything, both Craig and Iris dug into the large breakfast and started to savor the food that they had been dying to eat. Laughter was shared between all of those at the table as they devoured Octavia's magnificent cooking. Of course, all talk about magic had ended due to Quinn's arrival but she had decided to man the conversation as she complained about the youth of their town not taking the time to read books.

Though the house was still filled with Christmas spirit despite Quinn's complaints and Petunia's refusal to talk to her sisters. Yet Iris couldn't wait to see what would happen when all of their friends finally arrived for the New Years Eve party in a few days. She had no doubt that things would become hectic around their home.


	10. Christmas Day and a Half-Assed Apology

**"GET UP!" A SHRIEK GREETED LILY'S SLEEPY** ears as she was shoved incessantly on the shoulder. Whoever was trying to get her attention was trying damn hard to do it as Lily was almost pulled off the bed. She was still covered by the blanket of deep, dark sleep, so she only groaned in reply and pushed away the person who was trying to imitate an earthquake.

"Go away," she grumbled out though it was barely audible due to her stuffing her face into her pillows. Her attempts of pushing off her attacker were futile as they only continued on their bombardment.

"I'm not letting you sleep in, Lil!" That was a first, honestly… No one, in any circumstance, would have ever thought that Iris Evans was complaining about her twin sleeping in late. Though there was really only one time that Iris never slept in on and that was on Christmas. If she did sleep in, she was certain that her family would leave her out of the family activities of opening presents and sitting in the living room sipping eggnog and hot chocolate. Though her family would never do that to her. Christmas was not Christmas without Iris and her rambunctious nature.

Lily groaned loudly and pushed her sister away, "I don't care if it's Christmas, Iris. I want… to sleep… " She trailed off as she started to doze off back into her hazy dreams.

Iris sighed in frustration as she glared at her sister, "is this how you feel when you try to wake me up?" She asked her snoozy sister who only grunted in reply. "Whatever," she shoved Lily's shoulder one last time before huffing and leaving their bedroom. She wouldn't let Lily's reluctance to leave bed weigh her down. If she wouldn't get up, then Iris would just open her presents for her! Of course, she wouldn't be that cruel, but she'd give her about fifteen minutes before she tore open the presents and made it snow wrapping paper in their living room.

She bounced down the hallway to find her father already in the living room sipping on a mug of what she suspected to be hot chocolate. She could smell the sweet aroma of the beverage from the kitchen which instantly caused her to rush in there to get herself a cup. She found the pot of the drink on the counter. There was no possible way that Craig had made it himself, so Iris suspected that her mother had made it.

Iris poured herself a warm cup of hot chocolate and swaggered back into the living room where she plopped down onto the couch next to her father. The soft crackling of wood filled the room as the fire ate away at it while also providing some light. "Morning, dad!"

Craig smiled widely at his daughter, "good morning, Iris!" The man was just about jumping in his seat as it was obvious he could not sit still. Much like his daughter, Craig was itching to tear open the mountain of presents that resided underneath the Christmas tree.

"Is mum up?" Iris asked as she downed another gulp of the hot beverage that just about burned her tongue.

Craig nodded his head, "yes, she just went down the road to visit Mrs. Connelly."

"Oh," she smiled mischievously, "does this mean that we get to raid the kitchen for sweets?" Craig laughed at her question with a shake of his head, "please, dad?!"

"No, no, your mum will have both our heads if I let you do that."

Iris pouted and was silent for a moment, "I'll let you have all the jammie dodgers."

Craig paused and considered her offer. The poor man was a sucker for the infamous biscuits, and Iris knew that she could try and bribe him into it. Of course, before he could even agree with Iris' idea, Octavia appeared through the front door just in time. She noticed her husband and middle child in the living room sipping on some hot chocolate.

"Good morning!" She chirped happily while shedding her fluffy blue coat. "Happy Christmas," she leaned over to kiss Iris on the forehead before kissing Craig soundly which caused their daughter to groan in disgust.

"Come on, I'm trying to enjoy my hot chocolate here!"

The couple laughed at her behavior as Octavia plopped down on the couch in the middle of the two. "I suppose neither Lily or Petunia are awake yet."

"No, you, Iris, and I are the only ones awake." Craig chuckled into his mug and raised an amused eyebrow towards Iris. "I'm always surprised to see you awake in the early mornings, Iris."

Iris pouted, "why is it surprising that I've woken up this early on Christmas?"

"You're a very moody girl in the mornings, we all know that you have a hard time waking up." Octavia commented as she snatched Craig's mug and took a sip, "mm, should we wake your sisters up?"

"I'm not waking up Lily," Iris shook her head, "I already tried, and I don't want to do it again!"

"Fine, fine, I'll wake up the girls," Craig said as he moved to stand up only to have Iris follow him. Craig raised an eyebrow in her direction as she smiled innocently.

"I said that I wouldn't wake up Lily, I'll gladly wake up 'Tunie!" With that said, Iris placed her mug on the coffee table and rushed down the hallway towards the bedrooms. She stopped at her room fist and rummaged through her trunk to find exactly the tool of mayhem she needed. She yelped in completion once she found what she was looking for among the pile of clothes and books in her trunk.

She hopped out of her room and came to stand in front of her older sister's bedroom door. She cracked the door open to see Petunia sprawled out her bed messily. She smirked widely and moved into the dark room. She held the small objects tightly in her hands and snickered as she was ready to hear her sister's distressed screams.

Iris threw the stink pellets at her sleeping sister and bolted out the door. She closed the door loudly which caused Petunia to wake up. She groggily looked around the room to see why her bedroom door had shut so abruptly. She could hear the slight giggles from the other side of her door and rolled her eyes. Of course, Iris was obviously up to something!

She yawned and stretched as she finally decided that there was no point in staying in bed. For one, it was Christmas Day and her family would no doubt come to wake her up at some point. Two, Iris was planning something, she knew it. She sniffed the air. Something was… off.

A putrid smell invaded her nose and nearly caused her to gag. She swiftly placed her hand over her nose and mouth in hopes of stopping the scent from bombarding her senses. She started to taste the smell and her taste buds just about jumped from her tongue in order to get away from the smell.

Her gags could be heard through the door where Iris stood on the other side with her ear to the door and hand over her mouth. Christmas Day was not off limits for pranks. If anything, Christmas day was the perfect time for a prank!

The door was wrenched open and an angry, stinky Petunia was seething. She glared harshly at her younger sister with her fist clenched in fury. She was trying to seem intimidating through her narrowed eyes and long brown hair. Though she couldn't intimidate Iris as she was a tough person to intimidate.

Iris waved a hand in front of her face with her nose scrunched up. Though her smirk was still plastered on her lips, "Merlin, 'Tunie, you really need a shower!" She cackled before bouncing away before her sister could do anything to her. Oh, the day was starting off on a wonderful note!

* * *

The Evans family were all packed into the living room along with Quinn who had arrived only a few minutes prior. Petunia was sulking in the corner of the room and glaring at Iris. Said girl was currently fixing a red paper crown on her head with a blinding smile. Octavia was passing around presents happily while Craig, Lily, and Quinn spoke animatedly to each other. Everyone was completely ecstatic to see what gifts each of their family members had gotten them.

Iris tossed the presents she got each of her family members excitedly. She got some sweets for her father and Quinn, a few books for Lily and her mother, and a few quills for Petunia(Honestly, Iris didn't know what to get for Petunia and didn't want to get her something. But she knew her parents would reprimand her for not getting her older sister at least something…). Iris got some clothes, posters, muggle books, vinyls, and chocolates from her family members in the room. She was completely content with everything that she had gotten!

Once she saw the posters, she had instantly taken them to her bedroom and hung them up. She placed her books from Quinn on her desk along with the records that her parents got her. She knew the rest of vacation was going to be filled with listening to the Beatles, Queen, The Who, and many other bands/musicians she loved. And despite the fact that Iris wasn't an avid reader, for Quinn, she was happily read Carrie by Stephen King. It seemed interesting enough.

Of course, once the family members that were present finished handing around the gifts they got each other, they started to go through the presents that were mail to them by others in the family and quite a few friends.

Both of the twin's friends from school sent them a variety of gifts. Wendy had sent them some beauty products that she had gotten on her trip to Paris. Marlene sent some pictures from her time in America along with matching rings for the twins. Even Ida and Matilda, Iris' best friends from Beauxbatons, sent a few odds and ends of presents to her.

Though Iris jumped at the gifts she got from the Marauders as she was most excited for them. Peter had sent both her and Lily some sweets. Though Iris had a feeling that Peter had eaten some that he was meant to give them. Remus sent them some books from Flourish & Blotts. Second to last were the gifts that James had mailed to them. Iris got some Zonko products from him and had a feeling that she was going to use them all by the end of vacation.

James sent Lily another sappy letter attached to an expensive looking satchel. There was no way that Lily could complain about the Potter boy and his gift. Iris also noticed the seemingly thoughtful look on her twin's face when she stared at the bag her admirer had chosen for her.

To say that Lily was beyond surprised about the gift the insufferable boy had gotten her was an understatement. She was expecting a gift from him and thought, without a doubt, that she wouldn't like the gift. Lily was certain that James would have sent her some sort of Quidditch memorabilia or Gryffindor themed clothes once again. She was not suspected to receive a gift that James actually seemed to put some thought into. It also seemed that James had heard her complains at school. Lily was in desperate need of a new school bag because her other one was falling apart at the seams!

And to think, James Potter had actually taken into account her grievances and decided to get her a satchel. She also had no doubt that the leathery bag had cost him a pretty penny. She didn't want to admit that her heart had fluttered slightly at the fact that he had listened to her and acted on her words. His gift was actually… decent. Especially compared to the ones she had gotten in the past. It was refreshing and surprising to her. Though she wanted to keep denying the warm feeling pooling in her chest at the idea of James actually being a decent person.

Sirius' was the final presents that the twins had opened. Sirius sent Lily some school supplies like extra quills, ink, and parchment. She was actually grateful for the supplies as she just ran out of parchment due to the last essay that she had to write for Professor Binns.

However, Iris found a small box addressed to her from Sirius. When she picked up the velvety case, she didn't know what to suspect. She never would have thought that Sirius was the type of boy to gift her a piece of jewelry, but she's been wrong in the past. In the little box, a silver chain rested on a small pillow and in the center was a shiny crescent moon charm.

She couldn't help but allow a fond smile find its way onto her face. It was obvious that the charm was to represent the time they spend a night with each other in the common room. It was a heartwarming gift. Now Iris wasn't the type of girl to wear jewelry of any kind, but as soon as she took it out of the box she had put it on immediately. She admired it closely as her parents and Quinn gossiped with each other about some people in town and Petunia gathered her gifts to take to her room.

Lily nudged her as she started to stack the gifts that she had gotten. "Who's that from then?"

Iris bit her lip and spared her a quick glance, "Sirius."

Her sister's eyebrows shot upwards like a rocket as disbelief swarmed her eyes. "Really? Sirius gave you that?" She reached for the pendant and held it gently as it glittered in the light from the sunlight streaming through the window. "It is quite pretty, Iris. I never would have thought Sirius was able to pick out something like this for a girl…"

Iris tilted her head, "he must have done it before, I mean, he has had a few girlfriends." It was surprising to think that Sirius hadn't gifted any other girl with something like this. You would think that Sirius would want to woo a girl by buying her something as precious and, no doubt, expensive like some sort of jewelry. Though she couldn't help but allow the fuzzy feeling in her stomach overwhelm her at the thought. Sirius had gotten her this gift when he hadn't done it for any other girl. They weren't in a relationship, but Iris couldn't help but think that they already acted as though they were. Of course, she didn't want to admit that she may like the idea of being in a relationship with the rambunctious boy. Though that was starting to get harder and harder with all of the sweet things that Sirius was doing for her…

"Iris!" Quinn exclaimed and pulled Iris from her thoughts, "who gave you that?"

The older woman's gushing drew everyone's attention to her and the necklace that she now wore. Iris smiled widely, "a friend of mine from school."

Craig's eyes narrowed at the expression on her face, "and this friend doesn't happen to be that admirer of yours…?"

Iris couldn't help herself but laugh lightly at the overprotectiveness that swelled in her father's voice. She looked away for a moment bashfully, "and what if it is?"

Octavia squealed at the notion of Iris finally showing interest in a boy, "oh, who is it, Iris?"

Before Iris could tell them about the teenage boy who had grabbed her attention during the school year, the doorbell rang. Craig stood up sharply at the sound and moved towards the front door while muttering to himself about his second oldest daughter's admirer. His face was stuck in a scowl as the idea of a boy sinking his hands into his daughter and stealing her away festered in his mind.

He swung the large door open to come face to face with the greasy-haired boy who the twins had known for years. He smiled at the boy, "Severus, we were wondering when you'd arrive." He guided the boy into the warm home in order to shield them from the cold.

They entered the living room and the teenager was greeted by Octavia, Quinn, and Lily. But as soon as his eyes landed on a glowering Iris, he winced. Her eyes were narrowed into slits as her jaw was clenched in angry that she tried to keep bottled up. She didn't want to cause a scene while they were in the middle of opening presents.

"Severus, it's good to see you!" Octavia smiled as she stood up to give the boy a hug. He hugged the woman back half-heartedly as he could still feel the heated glare from the older twin drilling into his skull.

As the newcomer was greeted warmly, Lily looked over in confusion at the furious expression that Iris displayed. "Iris? What's wrong?"

Iris scoffed, "what's wrong!? Oh, I'll tell you what's wrong." She practically growled and stood up from the floor while dragging Lily with her away from the happy conversation between the four in the living room. She didn't want to openly talk about what had happened on the train in the living room. One reason is that she would most likely have to talk about magic and Quinn was in the room. Despite Quinn being like family, they weren't allowed to tell her about magic because of the Ministry of Magic and their stupid laws, as Iris would say. Another was that she didn't want Severus trying to interject on her explanation and possibly try to make himself look better.

"Iris!" Lily squeaked.

Iris ran a hand through her hair as they stood in the hallway, "that stupid, slimy snake is what's wrong, Lily!"

Lily gaped at the way that her sister spoke about their friend. She couldn't count the number of times Iris had reprimanded their friends for using those same words to describe Severus. She was completely baffled to hear those words come from her mouth. The Marauders must have finally corrupted Iris into thinking all Slytherins were terrible people.

"What do you mean? Why are you calling Severus a snake?"

The older redhead huffed and tried to stop herself from exploding where she stood. "Because he is," she snapped before sighing, "when we were leaving Hogwarts, I had the pleasure of running into Malfoy and Regulus." Lily nodded her head with pursed lips at the mutual disdain they had for the boys. "Well, Malfoy graciously decided to call me a Mudblood."

Lily's jaw dropped, "what!?"

Iris shushed her, "yeah, I know."

"But what does this have to do with Severus? What did he do?" Her voice was becoming increasingly louder. To get Iris this worked up, she had a feeling that Severus had done something terrible.

Iris was always protective of Severus who was like a brother to them. No matter what, the both of them were always there to stand up from him when people bullied him. Though Iris tended to be more… forceful when dealing with those bullies. Don't misunderstand, Lily could be just as feisty when it came to standing up to those tormentors. However, Iris had the tendency to throw punches when she got angry enough.

"He was standing right there, Lily, and he didn't do anything about it." She ground her teeth together, "you would think that he would defend me in some way especially after the number of times I've done it for him."

Astonishment washed over Lily's pale features. Severus just stood there as the two Slytherin boys called one of his closest friends a Mudblood? How could he do that!? Her eyes narrowed as they were immediately consumed with fury and a burning in her stomach intensified. Severus was in for a hellish time now that Lily knew. She was unsure why Iris didn't tell her earlier but that was at the bottom of her worries at that moment.

"It must be Regulus and Malfoy," Lily came to a conclusion. "They're… changing him, I'm sure of it!"

Iris nodded her head, "yeah, but that still doesn't excuse his actions. He did it, 'm pretty sure that they didn't make him."

They mulled over their words and the actions that Severus had obviously done. They started to contemplate Severus' behavior and personality over the past few months. He was more skittish than he naturally usually was. Severus also seemed to try and ignore the two of them as of lately unless he was with Regulus and Lucius when they bothered Iris or when he was acting… strange. Iris also couldn't ignore the fact that Severus had been trying to constantly give her things. Perfumes that she had only used and a few drinks in the Great Hall during meals, were mainly the ones that he had given her about once every other week. Now that she thought about it, she always got sick nearly every time after she used the perfumes or drank the beverages. Something was going on…

Lily huffed hotly as she stomped back into the living room to see her parents talking with Severus about school while Quinn went into the kitchen. No doubt she was going to start baking some cookies. She marched right up to Severus and shoved him away from her parents. He squeaked in alarm but didn't fight back against the redhead. He already had a feeling that Iris had told her about what had happened on the train going by the glare that the other girl was shooting him as she followed after them towards the door.

"Lillian!" Octavia scowled as she and Craig followed the trio to the front door. They stared as Iris opened the front door and the pair of twins push him onto the snow-covered ground. They started as shock buzzed through their bodies. They had never seen the girls act like that towards their best friend. Yes, they have witnessed the girls become physical with a few other children who had angered them but never a dear friend like Severus.

Iris and Lily stared down at the poor boy who stared up at them with wide yet guilty eyes, "think of this as punishment, Severus," Lily sneered.

Iris nodded her head firmly, "do something like that again, and next time we'll be throwing you into the Black Lake."

The boy gulped and nodded his head as he hesitantly stood up. "Iris, L-Lily I-"

"Save it, Snape!" Iris barked as their parents shared an uneasy look. They could hear the malice in her voice as the two glared at him.

He continued on, "I'm sorry, really I am-"

"Didn't I just tell you to shut it!"

Octavia looked between the three and sighed, "let's see what he has to say, Iris…" She took slight pity on the boy, how could she not? He looked like a kicked puppy with the expression adorning his face. She wasn't completely sure why the girls were angry with him, but if he had come to say sorry to them then they should at least hear him out.

Severus nodded shakily towards the woman in thanks before taking a deep breath to collect his thoughts. "I-I just came to apologize, Iris." Said girl stared at him with a hard look as she bit her tongue to keep from saying anything spiteful. He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out two small glass vial that the twins were surprised didn't break when he had fallen over. "I wasn't able to give your presents at the station and I wanted to do it now."

The girls shared a glance as Lily took the vial with her name on it from him. She looked at the mixture that was no doubt a perfume with pursed lips. Iris stared at the one that was still held in Severus' awaiting hand with her arms crossed. She didn't want to take the concoction from him at all! She didn't care that it may have been a way for him to say sorry to her, but he had been giving her things like this all year!

Craig nudged Iris in the back and motioned to the nervous boy. "Go on, Iris." Iris turned her glared to her father who was unfazed by it. "He says he's sorry for whatever it is he did."

"He's trying to get your forgiveness girls," Octavia commented, "can't you at least try to do the same?"

There was a moment of silence between them all as Iris looked between Severus and the vial. His eyes looked soft and regretful as he urged her to take the vial from his hand. Iris sighed deeply through her nose and snatched it from him. "Fine," she grumbled out and stared at him intently, "but don't think this means I forgive you in any way."

Severus nodded his head and gulped. "No, yeah, that's fine. I don't really forgive myself for what I did or really, what I didn't do for you, Iris." Yes, he certainly did regret what he did… what he's going to do, and what he's already done.

"Whatever," Iris snapped and stomped back into the house without sparing another glance at the boy. Lily stared at him for a moment longer with a hard glare that softened slightly when he looked at her with regret consuming him completely. She hesitantly left them as anger and sadness swirled in her gut.

Craig cleared his throat, "well, Severus," he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "I suppose you should be heading home."

Severus nodded his head sadly, "it was nice to see you, Mr. and Mrs. Evans."

"Same to you, Severus," Octavia said with about the same amount of depression that swarmed in Severus' gut. "I hope that the three of you can talk out whatever happened."

He nodded his head absentmindedly as he gazed off in thought. He shook his head and mustered up the best smile he could, though it looked more like a grimace, and turned around to head to his own home. He pulled his coat closer to himself and trudged through the snow. Merlin, things were not going well, and they could only get worse.

* * *

Iris stared at the vial that was placed on her desk. She sat in her shared bedroom at her desk with narrowed eyes. She had been staring at it for about twenty minutes. As her family finished up putting away dishes and scrapes from their Christmas dinner, Iris had ventured into her room to start up some new research. She laid out all of her school textbooks but gave up halfway through.

The perfume that Severus had given her and Lily was obviously homemade. He made them himself just like the others that he had given her before. Though this one was completely transparent in its vial, unlike the past ones that she had received from him. She had never paid too much attention to minuscule things like their color and such, but now Iris was skeptical. Severus had given her ones that were light blue, dark purple, orange, and even red. For some reason, she had a feeling pooling in her stomach that something was off with this one. After she had told Lily about what had happened, she had been contemplating Severus. Every aspect of him she question.

She questioned every conversation that she had with him when he stuttered more than he usually had and spoke quieter. There was an air of uncertainty, mystery, and uneasiness that constantly followed him around now, and Iris wasn't sure why. Lily told her that Severus never really hung out with many students in his house and tended to spend time with her during school. It wasn't until this year that he was constantly with the other Slytherin's, specifically Regulus and Lucius.

She questioned the perfumes and drinks that he had gotten her. He claimed that he either made them himself with his downtime in the potions classroom or bought them at Hogsmeade. Iris had an itching feeling that he wasn't being completely truthful. No matter what he had given her, she always found herself light-headed or nauseous after she used them. Before she had thought that she was just sick whenever it had happened. But now, she started to think that Severus had something to do with it.

How could that be true? Severus is like a brother to her… no, he is her brother! Merlin, Severus was practically apart of her family and was literally the only boy that Craig would allow around his daughters because he felt like he was his son. He wouldn't dare harm the girl that he saw as his sister… would he?

"Iris!" Octavia called as she came into the twin's bedroom with a large smile, "someone's here to see you and Lily."

Iris furrowed her eyebrows at the giddy tone of her mother's voice and slowly stood up as her mother disappeared from the doorway. She sure hoped that it wasn't Severus wanting to apologize more. She honestly didn't want to see him for a long, long time.

Iris exited her bedroom and walk over to the front door. Standing in the entrance to the home was a slightly nervous looking Derek. He brushed a hand through his hair and looked around the cozy home. He fiddled with the shoulder bag that reached across his torso and gulped. Iris tilted her head as she approached the boy, "Derek?"

His head snapped in her direction as soon as she said his name. A bright, toothy smile stretched across his face as he cleared his throat slightly. "Iris, hey!"

The redhead smirked as she sauntered closer to him, "couldn't stay away from me, huh?"

Derek looked away embarrassed as he put his hands in his pocket. His cheeks became slightly redder and it wasn't due to the cold weather outside. He chuckled, "I guess not."

Lily came over to them as the pair laughed with each other lightly, "oh, Derek. It's nice to see you again."

"Same to you."

Octavia came bouncing over to the teens, "so, girls, are you going to introduce your new friend."

"Right, mum, this is Derek Higgs. Derek, this is our mum." Iris told the two as Octavia shook the young man's hand.

The older woman smiled kindly at him, "it's wonderful to meet you, Derek!"

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Evans," he flashed her a charming smile.

"What are you doing here?" Lily asked in curiosity, "not to be rude."

Derek flushed, "I actually came here to give you your gifts!" He pulled out two small boxes from his bag and held them out to the girls.

Lily gasped slightly, "you didn't need to get us anything, Derek. We only just met the other day."

Derek shrugged his shoulders bashfully as if it wasn't a big deal, "doesn't matter to me, you know."

Iris studied the box carefully while chuckling under her breath, "we would have gotten you a present if we knew you were bringing us some."

The boy waved his hand and gave Iris a meaningful look as his attention was now solely on her. "You don't have to get me anything, really, Iris."

Octavia perked up, "I know! Why don't you take some treats as a thank you!" She ushered them into the kitchen where she had just finished up putting leftovers from dinner away. She scurried to the counter and picked up a plate that was decorated in cookies, chocolates and many other Christmas treats. Craig looked up from his newspaper to see his wife, daughters and a boy enter the room. His eyes narrowed at the sight of the young man and he instantly placed down his reading material.

"Thank you, Mrs. Evans!" He took a couple of treats from the plate with a grateful smile. Craig stood up to his full height and tried to tower over the boy.

"And you are…?"

Derek looked up at the older man with a prepossessing smile, "I'm Derek Higgs, sir. I'm friends with Iris and Lily."

Craig's narrowed eyes didn't falter. If anything, they only narrowed further at the charming boy. "Hm," he hummed in acknowledgment while assessing the boy's appearance. He was decently and modestly dressed, Craig had to admit. Though looks aren't everything! "Nice to meet you… Derek." The girls rolled their eyes at Craig's blatant attempt at intimidating the boy as he seized the young man up.

"You as well, sir." He looked at the man of the house and didn't falter with his smile as it was quite obvious Craig's intimidation wasn't working. Either that or Derek just didn't notice the fact that the older man was trying to be intimidating. It was most likely the latter. He turned to Lily and Iris, "I guess I should get going. I'll, uh, see you later?"

The question was obviously aimed at Iris more than Lily. Iris bit the inside of her cheek and nodded her own head, "yeah, definitely! You should come over next week, we're having a New Years party."

Derek nodded his head, "of course, yeah, I'll see you then." Once again, the statement was directed solely at Iris. The girls lead Derek back to the front door and with a final smile to the family, a glare from Craig and a wink from Iris, Derek headed out onto the sidewalk and started to make his way home.

"He seems like a nice boy," Octavia observed as she closed the door while the twins went to sit on the couch.

Lily nodded her head, "mhm, he's just moved here from America as well!"

"Oh, an American boy, huh?"

Iris laughed at the raised eyebrow from her mother, "what's that supposed to mean, mum?"

Octavia shrugged her shoulders with an expression of faux confusion, "I don't know what you mean, Iris. I'm merely observing."

The oldest twin laughed sarcastically, "I'm sure."

Lily shook her head as she started to open the neatly wrapped box Derek had given her. As soon as the box was shed of its paper and opened up, Lily smiled at the snowglobe of Big Ben. She took the globe out and shook it, "this is quite pretty."

Iris looked down at her own box and tore open the paper. She opened her box (that was smaller than Lily's, she noticed) and found a glittering bracelet. It was silver, white and the lightest blue that Iris had ever seen. It was a thin chain decorated in a few charms of snowflakes that were both white and blue. It was illuminated by the soft light from the flames in the fireplace as Iris gazed at it with furrowed eyebrows.

Octavia gasped as she looked at the present the boy had gotten for her daughter. "Oh, it's beautiful, Iris."

Said girl nodded her head as she moved it around in her hands. It was a pretty piece of jewelry, there was no doubt. Iris was certain that Derek had spent quite a bit of money for the gift. She wasn't completely sure why he would do that… Sure Iris knew that Derek was most likely attracted to her but that didn't mean he should spend a lot of money for a girl he had just met a few days ago.

There was a feeling in the back of mind that was slowly creeping into her thoughts. She just couldn't help herself but compare Sirius and Derek. The both of them may have given her jewelry for a Christmas present, but Iris had to admit that they were quite different from each other. While Sirius was troublesome, Derek was a rule follower. Sirius was loud, and Derek was quiet. Sirius was arrogant, and Derek was modest. Sirius was childish, Derek was mature. Not to mention, Sirius was a wizard, and Derek was a muggle, They were almost complete opposites. For some reason, Iris had to remind herself of that.

"You must be really special to this boy if he gave you that," Octavia commented as she and Lily gazed at the jewelry. "Really, Iris, no boy buys jewelry like that for just anyone."

Iris shrugged her shoulders, "maybe… but he also got a gift for Lily…"

Lily scoffed and waved around the snowglobe, "yeah, a snowglobe, nothing like this!" She pointed at the bracelet with a sly look, "looks like you don't only have Sirius after you but also Derek."

Iris rolled her eyes, "Lil, you need to stop this. I will admit, I do enjoy Sirius' company and now Derek's, but it most certainly won't lead to anything." Even though I want it to, she couldn't stop the back of her mind from contradicting herself.

Octavia tutted at Iris' denial while shaking her head. She wondered how long it would take for her daughter to finally allow herself to be swept off her feet by a boy. "Right, well, you two best get to bed. It's quite late!"

The twins groaned, "mum!"

"No arguing, bed." Lily and Iris didn't argue further and trudged from their spots in the living room, towards their bedroom.

* * *

Iris tossed and turned in her bed as she tried to get comfortable. For some odd reason, she couldn't find any way to fall asleep. She groaned unhappily and shoved her face into her pillow as she laid on her stomach. She pulled her blankets over herself tighter and let out a deep sigh as her eyes were wide open. Her bedroom was almost completely dark except for the street lamp that shone dimly through the window.

She turned her head to see the two small boxes that rested on her bedside table. She huffed through her nose and leaned on her elbow while reaching over to the jewelry boxes. She picked up the one that was on top and opened it up to find the crescent moon necklace that she was certain she would grow to love. Also inside the box, underneath the necklace, was Sirius' letter that she couldn't help but take out as well.

Her brown eyes skimmed over the letter as she smiled lightly. Merlin, what was happening to her?

In any other case, she would have read the slightly sappy letter and disregarded it while throwing it into the rubbish bin. However, she didn't know why but she most definitely didn't want to get rid of it at all. It could be because it documented a side of Sirius that Iris had only been privy to at night. Having the letter just proved to her that Sirius wasn't always constantly an arrogant, troublesome teen who was nothing but confident all the time. Instead, it reminded her that he was just like everyone else with insecurities and sentiments that don't just pertain to pranks and jokes. She could already hear his silky, confident voice saying those words to her, 'I guess… I just miss you.'

Merlin, maybe Lily was right all along. Sirius even told Iris that he had never opened up to someone as he has to her. He had divulged in her on topics that he never would have with the boys and he made it quite clear that he was grateful for her. She also was just as grateful for him and the fact that he listens to her complaints and insecurities. They treasured that about each other, she now realized. Well, she wasn't sure if Sirius did treasure their midnight meetings and for some reason that caused a pit to form in her stomach. Was she nervous about Sirius not enjoying their time together and not cherishing it as much as she did?

She bit her lip before tucking the parchment back into the box along with the necklace and placing it back onto her nightstand. Iris burrowed herself further into the velvety duvet as she tried to fall asleep once again. This time, she found herself sleepy and her eyes fighting to stay open. Soon enough, sleep smothered her like a heavy, thick blanket and dragged her into a dream that she would have no recollection of in the morning.


	11. New Years Party

**THE THIRTY FIRST OF DECEMBER WAS QUITE** chaotic in the Evans house. Octavia was baking and cooking as quickly as she could while Petunia helped half-heartedly. Craig was setting up some lights on the walls and other decorations. The twins, Iris and Lily, were cleaning up any parts of the house that seemed to be even remotely untidy. Though Iris really only cleaned her side of the bedroom as she had a feeling that she would spend most of the night with the Marauders, and she knew that they would need a place away from the muggles to talk about magic and such. Even little Shadow was helping out, in his own regard, by eating any scraps that Octavia and Petunia were throwing out. He couldn't let any edible food go to waste.

Petunia was grumbling under her breath as she placed some trays of batter into the oven. "Mum," she turned to her mother who was working on cutting up some ingredients for a dish. Octavia hummed in acknowledgment, "are you sure that you should have let the twins invite their freakish-," she quickly corrected herself through a cough, "-magical friends." Octavia glanced at her questioningly. "We're going to have everyone here who's… not magical. Don't you think that they shouldn't let their friends come?" Her words were bitter like the term 'magical' had left a sour taste on her tongue.

It was obvious to just about everyone that Petunia had a strong dislike for the magical world. Nobody was certain why she held such disdain for the twins friends or the magical world in general. Though it was clear that she did hate them with a passion that rivaled that of the passion Iris had for pranks.

"Nonsense," Octavia shook her head while tossing some vegetables in a bowl. "Your friends get to come over, it doesn't make sense for the twins not to invite their friends over."

Petunia rolled her eyes, "my friends are normal," she stressed. "Theirs are…" Her lanky arms flailed slightly as if she was mimicking a drowning bird but she really meant that she didn't have the words to describe the wizards without earning a scolding from her mother.

Octavia huffed, "Petunia, you need to stop this. The people from the magical world are obviously... different but that doesn't mean we should exclude them from anything."

The girl grumbled under her breath and shook her head. Her hair dangled in front of her face and shielded the gloomy, frustrated crease in her eyebrow from Octavia. The older woman nodded her head, satisfied, as she had thought Petunia had finally dropped the subject. Yes, Petunia did drop the subject as she thought there was no reason for her to argue with her mother about the twins guests. Her parents were fine with that fact that Iris and Lily were bringing around strange people into their home that would no doubt act abnormally and whatnot. She shivered harshly at even the thought of another one of those freaks stepping foot through the threshold of the front door.

* * *

Iris chomped happily on a sugar cookie while lounging on her bed. Lily was bustling around their room and cleaning up her already pristine side of the room. Of course, she had tried to get Iris to clean her own room which only earned her a whine from the girl and Iris' half-hearted attempt to tidy up her desk. Iris bopped her head in time with the Beatles song Yellow Submarine as it played from the girls' record player in the corner of their room.

She was looking forward to seeing all of her friends after not seeing them for nearly two weeks. Ida and Matilda, her best friends from Beauxbatons, would also come to the party along with their friends from Hogwarts. She couldn't wait to catch up on the two girls lives after she left. Iris especially wanted to know what the two girls had gotten up to since last they saw each other because of... obvious reasons to her. If the two of them hadn't seen the longing looks that they gave each other when they thought the other wasn't looking, they were completely blind. Iris was always there to see it. Her last year at Beauxbatons was full of trying to avoid the obvious sexual tension that had grown between her two friends. And Merlin, there was a lot!

"Aren't you worried about the others seeing our room as such a mess!?"

Iris lazily stuffed the remainder of the cookie into her mouth and stared at Lily blankly. "Mm," she grunted around the cookie while shaking her head 'no'.

Lily rolled her eyes and turned back to the clothes that she was putting away in her dresser. "You should really clean up your side of the room," she smirked, "you definitely don't want to disappoint Sirius, right?"

With the cookie finally swallowed and her head still nodding to the beat of the music, Iris scoffed loudly. "As if Sirius could be disappointed by me." That boy could never be disappointed in her, never. Iris was certain the Sirius would be able to find some sort of excuse to not be disappointed. _Just like how I'd never _be_ disappointed in him_, she paused, _did I just think that?_

Lily huffed and continued on with her work, "still, if you do decide to bring him in here, just remember that this is my room too." She most certainly didn't want to walk into their room to find her sister and Sirius "catching up" with each other while the party was going on. Honestly, she didn't think that her sister would even try to do… something like that, especially when there would be quite a lot of people coming over, but you never know with Iris.

Iris smirked as she figured out the underlying worry in her twins words. As if she would try anything like that when not only an array of people would be in the other room but also their parents. She most certainly would wait for some more privacy than that. Plus, Iris held some modesty as she would never do anything with any boy, let alone Sirius if she wasn't in a relationship with said boy. Besides she thought that she was too young for such… activities.

"I promise you, nothing like that will happen while the others are over." She shook her head in faux disbelief, "you act as though I have no decency!"

Lily bristled, "I'm only reminding you, Iris! You have a tendency to ignore things that I tell you not to do."

Chuckling was the only reply that she got, "yeah, that's true."

"You are unbelievable."

* * *

"Oh, you've grown so much!"

Iris cringed at the way her cheeks were pinched harshly. She didn't doubt that she would be sporting red cheeks for the rest of the night thanks to her great aunts and uncles. She pushed the withered hand away from her abused face. "Hi, great aunt Wanda."

The old woman was decked out in a thick, fur coat that was a sleek black. Iris didn't doubt that it was made of some sort of animal. Iris only had a few great aunts and uncles due to both her parents being only children, but she was sure that Iris disliked Wanda the most. She attributed the mild hatred to the fact that Wanda was well known for wearing animal furs and such. Mainly fox. Iris didn't like that, not at all. Iris also had the tendency to refer to the old woman as Cruella de Vil.

The old woman, who stood rigid and tall, had a large smile that stretched across her face that was painted dark red. She was a boney woman and most likely would break in half if she so much as carried something that weighted more than twenty-five pounds.

"Oh, Iris, sweetheart, you look so pale," Wanda's husband, Thomas, commented as he took his wife's huge coat from her and threw it to Craig who caught it before it could fall onto the floor.

Iris nodded her head sarcastically as her voice was monotone, "I'm aware, great uncle Thomas. It comes with being ginger."

Thomas scoffed, "you need to spend more time outdoors, being cooped up inside is not healthy."

"I'm aware."

"Hopefully you don't do the same at that boarding school of yours." The stocky, plump, grey-haired man commented with his large nose turned upward as he and his wife ventured into the living room that was slowly filling up with more people. "If so, I'd be surprised if you had any friends."

Iris scowled at their laughter and growled under her breath. She hated some of her family. She couldn't wait for the day she could move to an area surrounded by magic and away from any annoying muggles. She grumbled under her breath as she closed the front door and walked into the living room.

There were quite a few family members and friends who had already arrived for the party. There were some of the twin's great aunts and uncles, older cousins and grandparents sitting around the home. Some of their parents' friends had arrived as well and of course, brought alcohol for the adults to drown themselves in.

Oscar and Samantha had appeared a few minutes ago and instantly dragged Lily away to spend time together. Petunia's new beau, Vernon Dursley, had also arrived and Iris was surprised that the man was able to fit through the front door! He was incredibly boring and acted as though he was better than everyone. Merlin, Iris could already tell that he was an obnoxious and stuck-up man that she could barely stand. Craig also noticed that and spoke to Octavia about trying to scare him away. Though Octavia wouldn't allow that. Unless Vernon had done something horrible to Petunia or anyone else, then he was allowed to stay.

Iris was left by herself. None of her friends had yet to show up which left her to be the one to open the door whenever the shrill bell rang. Of course, she had greeted each of her family members and had short conversations with some but overall, she was left by herself. All she could do was wait for someone she truly wanted to spend time with to show up.

_Like Sirius_, a smug voice in the back of her head commented. She couldn't help herself from becoming internally flustered. _Yeah, because he would be more entertaining than my family_, she wanted to brush it off with that excuse. Sure, Iris wanted Sirius to show up so they could hang out but that was only because there was no one else to hang out with. It wasn't because of any other reason! Not at all! It wasn't because she missed him more than she'd like to admit and was both excited and nervous to see him again.

Yes, that was it, she was just really, really bored. Though she had to question why her stomach wasn't as queasy at the thought of seeing James, Peter or Remus again but it was whenever Sirius took over her mind.

The bell rung again and dragged Iris out of her mind that she was slightly thankful about. She jumped at the door and wrenched it open to be blasted with a cold wind and a few snowflakes. "Ida! Matilda!" She exclaimed in happiness once she got a glimpse of who was waiting on their doorstep The two French girls who waited to be let in smiled at their friend who they hadn't seen in a few months.

"Iris!" Ida was the first to launch herself at the English girl which nearly knocked them onto the ground. Iris laughed as she steadied them and moved further into the house so they could get away from the cold. The blonde who continued to hang onto her squeezed her tightly. Though it couldn't rival the hugs that Lily or Quinn gave.

With a soft, round, pale face that was complemented with dazzling, light blue eyes, Ida was a vision. Though that could only be as expected due to Ida being half-veela. She was bouncing in excitement which caused her long blonde hair that was in a french braid to bounce on her shoulder as her light pink lips moved at a mile-a-minute, "we've missed you so much, Iris!" Her accent was quite evident when compared to the English ones that were dominating the house. Though it wasn't as strong as a few other French people Iris had met while schooling at Beauxbatons. Plus, out of the two of them, Ida knew how to speak English a tad bit more fluently than Matilda and was the brunette's appointed translator most of the time. She also was Iris' translator at times whenever Iris had trouble with French as she wasn't fluent in it like she should have been

Matilda smiled fondly at the excited nature of the blonde and tried to make sure that she didn't suffocate their friend. "Calme-toi, Ida," she commented as she pulled Ida off of the redhead before pulling Iris into a hug of her own though it wasn't as tight as Ida's. "C'est bon de te voir, Iris."

Her voice wasn't as light as Ida's. It was slightly more alto and gruff but still held a tone of beauty that quite a few people loved. Matilda had shoulder-length chestnut hair that framed her slim and distinct face. Not only was her face slim but so is her nose, lips, and eyebrows. She was the tallest out of the three while Ida was the shortest where the top of her head barely reached Matilda's chin. Matilda's hazel eyes were smiling at the reunion between herself and her former classmate.

"C'est bon de te voir aussi, Matilda." Oh, Iris had missed her best friends so much! She missed the days at Beauxbatons when they got to walk around the school grounds and enjoy each other's company during the day. She missed how she had to listen to Matilda scold her for doing pranks or not doing school work. She also missed laughing with Ida about nothing in particular but just being content with their life at school.

Was it tough to have to leave them and the few other acquaintances that she had at Beauxbatons behind? Yes, it really was. However, she had to admit that she was quite happy with how things at Hogwarts were going. Though she would love to see the girls more often if she could.

"Come on," Iris said as she leads the two into the living room. "I've been sitting here for the longest time by myself." They weaved through people who spoke and laughed with each other towards the twins' bedroom. Iris was hoping to spend as much time as she could hidden in her room with a few of her friends before her parents forced her to socialize with their family.

The French girls surveyed the home with curiosity swimming in both of their eyes. They never truly had been near a muggle town let alone in a muggle home. They only ever knew about muggle life through stories from Iris and other muggle-born witches and wizards. To see so many muggles in one place… was fascinating for the two witches.

"This is your whole family?" Ida asked as they pushed through a small group of Iris' older cousins.

Iris tilted her head back and forth, "most of them. Great uncle Will said he couldn't come, cousin Eve said the same and a few people haven't shown up yet."

Before the trio could get to the safety of Iris' shared bedroom, Oscar and Samantha appeared behind them. Iris groaned when she was able to get a glimpse of the bleach blonde hair and thick-rimmed glasses. She flashed them a tight-lipped smile, "Samantha, Oscar, hi!" The French girls behind her snickered from behind their hands as they heard the sarcastic bite in her words.

With her nose held in the air, Samantha scowled slightly at the older twin. "Iris," she glanced at Ida and Matilda behind her, "and friends? I didn't think you were able to make friends."

Iris rolled her eyes and snapped, "why does no one in this town believe I have friends?"

Oscar pushed up his glasses as his eyes shined smugly, "you're a tad bit irritable Iris." The redhead glowered at his words as he took in the girls behind her. "I suppose these are the only friends you have, I'm certain that no more than two people can stand forming a friendship with you."

Ida and Matilda shared an annoyed glance with each other, "Ils sont assez stupides, n'est-ce pas?" Matilda asked her friends rhetorically with a cool voice. They nodded their heads as Samantha and Oscar stared at them in confusion.

"Plus que tu ne le penses," Iris commented which caused the girls to share a laugh.

Oscar tsked though it was obvious that he had no idea what the trio had said, "If you think that speaking in another language makes you superior," He adjusted his glasses with a glare, "you'll find yourself completely wrong."

"Comment gérez-vous cet enfoiré, Iris?" Ida asked with irritation seeping into her voice while she stared at the two muggles in distaste.

Iris shrugged her shoulders as she pushed through the pair blocking their path and finally made it to the door of her bedroom. "Aucune idée, je trouve que les ignorer est la meilleure chose à faire," she commented offhandedly as they left two confused muggles in the hallway and Matilda shut the door in their faces with a satisfied smirk. Samantha and Oscar shared a look with each other that displayed their confusion. They didn't want to admit (well Oscar didn't want to admit it as it was already well known that Samantha didn't know many things) that they had no idea what the trio was talking about. Though they brushed it off and turned to find Lily or some kind of entertainment to deter them from the confrontation they just had with Iris and her friends.

In the bedroom, Iris plopped down on her desk chair while Ida and Matilda crawled onto her bed and sat on the edge of it. "So…" Iris smirked, "anything new happen since I've last seen you."

The French girls shared a glance with each other as Ida gnawed at her bottom lip. Matilda looked completely neutral though there seemed to be an edge of a challenge in her features. Iris was certain she knew why they reacted that way.

"Well…" Ida started as a bashful smile crawled onto her lips while a rosy hue blossomed on her cheekbones. "Uh, Matilda and I are… we're…" She looked to said girl for help.

The brunette chuckled lightly as Ida's inability to speak and turned to Iris, "we're dating."

Instantly, Iris squealed happily and hopped up from her seat to jump on her friends. She attacked them with a tight hug that choked them to the point they felt like they couldn't breathe.

Ida wheezed, "Iris! Nous ... ne pouvons pas ... respirer!"

After a few more moments, Iris let go of her best friends while she beamed brightly, "finally!" Her bright smile nearly blinded both Ida and Matilda, "I've been waiting for years for one of you to make a move!"

Ida blushed at her English friend's words, "really?"

Iris rolled her eyes as if her blond friend had asked an obvious question, "'course, you two have been eyeing each other since third year, and last year, Merlin, I could barely stand being in the same room as you two."

Matilda's eyebrows furrowed, "it could not have been that bad."

The redhead eyed her with her pale face void of any emotion, "yes."

The two other girls chuckled and giggled as Matilda tucked Ida under her arm and pulled her closer. Yes, it did take the two girls a while to realize that there was a mutual attraction between them. Each girl had gone to Iris, separately, to reveal their crush on the other. They never realized that they both had a crush on each other and confessed it to the same person. Iris tried her best to nudge them towards each other but nothing worked. At one point, Iris just wanted to lock them in a closet and leave them in there until they confessed to each other. She had nearly torn her hair out towards the end of their fourth year. If she had to be honest, she was slightly relieved to have to be away from them and their lovey-dovey staring contests. They could be suffocating at times and Iris usually felt like a third wheel when they hung out even though they weren't dating them.

Matilda rolled her eyes as Ida giggled and burrowed herself into her girlfriend's side. Iris shook her head while trying to seem unimpressed with their disbelief in how unbearable they were though she couldn't help herself from smiling. Sure, they were slightly annoying to be around whenever they were so affectionate with each other though unwilling to see what was right in front of them, Iris was ecstatic. She was overjoyed that they had finally made a move(she still wasn't sure who made the first move, but she'll find out eventually) and dove into a relationship.

Ida eyed their smiling friend as suspicion and questions started to pop into her head. Her baby-blue eyes were glued to the necklace that was Iris wore while also flickering her eyes to the bracelet she wore. "I did not think that you would ever wear jewelry."

Iris' eyes were blown open as she glanced down quickly at the two pieces of glittering jewelry. She cleared her throat in embarrassment, "yeah, well, I thought it was a good time to do it."

"Who gave them to you?" She continued her interrogation with a raised eyebrow.

"No one!" She exclaimed before realizing that she answered too quickly and quite loudly, "no one special."

Matilda scoffed, "menteur!"

"Hey!" Iris bristled, "just some friends, honest."

The girls dropped the subject when they saw Iris was surprisingly flustered. Matilda and Ida decided to retell how they got together while Iris told them all about Hogwarts. Just as Iris was in the middle of telling the girls about the Shrieking Shack, the door to the bedroom opened.

The trio turned to see a short, pudgy blonde standing in the doorway while wringing his fingers together in anxiety. Iris smiled at the teen, "Happy New Year, Peter!"

The mousy boy smiled, "Happy New Year, Iris." His gaze turned to the girls that Iris was sitting with, more specifically, Ida. It was no surprise that his gaze had lingered on the girl. Neither was the expression of wonder and awe. Matilda noticed how the boy had yet to tear his eyes away from her girlfriend and just about growled in protectiveness.

"Qui est ce garçon?"

Peter jumped at the tone of her voice and tore his eyes away from Ida to look at the brunette who was glaring at him with her arm wrapped around Ida's shoulders. "Matilda, Ida, this is Peter Pettigrew, a friend from Hogwarts and he's apart of the Marauders." She knew that Matilda was going to be growling at just about everyone due to people staring at Ida. She should suspect that. It usually happens when you date someone who's half-veela.

"Nice to meet you!" Ida yelled out, completely oblivious to the daggers Matilda was shooting at Peter who cowered back slightly.

Peter gulped, "y-yeah, nice to meet you too."

"These are my best friends from Beauxbatons, Matilda Brun," she motioned to the slightly taller, glowering girl, "and Ida Leblanc." She pointed to the smiling half-veela. Peter just nodded his head mutely as he tried to ignore the heated glare Matilda had yet to pull off of him.

Iris tried to look around Peter to see if anyone else was behind him, "are any of the other boys here yet?"

"Remus is. He's talking with your dad," Peter commented as he cleared his throat.

Iris nodded her head and jumped up from her spot on her bed while heading to the door, "come on, let's save him from some sort of awkward conversation."

The four teens headed out of the room and maneuvered through people before making it into the kitchen where Craig stood with Remus. The two noticed the other teens walking over and smiled at them. Though Remus' was obviously more of a grimace. Iris could already tell that her father was trying to intimidate him in some way.

Iris huffed, "dad, leave Remus alone."

Craig shrugged his shoulders, "what do you mean, Iris? I've done nothing!"

"Sure," she grabbed Remus' arm and pulled him away from her father, "let's go outside." She could already tell that her father was watching them go with narrowed eyes. You would think that he would get used to Iris having male friends. Sure, she mainly did have female friends though she did have male muggle friends from when she was younger, wizards from Beauxbatons and, now, male friends from Hogwarts. She was certain that her father was aware of how she… interacted with guys, teasing them and whatnot, but she was more than capable of scaring them if they ever tried to hurt her like her father feared they would. If she ever did get into a relationship with a boy(which is a big if), and he so much as stepped a toe out of line, she would have no trouble with hexing him.

Iris plucked a coat off of the rack that rested in the corner of the kitchen as she passed it and opened the back door. There were a few people outside enjoying the night even though it was quite chilly. It was significantly less stuffy outside when compared to inside.

"Don't mind my dad, boys," Iris commented offhandedly while burrowing herself into her coat. To be honest, she really didn't want to be outside where it was cold and lightly snowing. But she would endure the weather if it meant that she was further away from Samantha and Oscar while simultaneously avoiding her father's need to interrogate her male friends. "He's barely any bark and no bite. All he can really do is annoy you or embarrass himself." Remus and Peter nodded their heads.

The tall, sandy-haired teen turned to the girls he had never met and nearly gaped at Ida. He tried to keep his staring subtle though both Iris and Matilda already noticed it which cause Matilda to slightly stand in front of her. She'll have to get used to that more often now. Sure, people had stared at Ida in the past due to her being half-veela, however, now, Ida was Matilda's and no one else's…

Remus turned away and smiled shakily at Iris, "I guess this is Ida and Matilda from Beauxbatons, right?"

Iris nodded her head, "yup," she turned to the couple, "and this is Remus Lupin-"

"Another member of the Marauders, yes?" Ida asked happily.

Remus chuckled as he looked at the short girl, now able to deter himself from staring too long, and smiled, "yeah," he then turned to Iris, "how was your break?"

The redhead shrugged, "fine, I guess. Petunia's been annoying, Oscar and Samantha are infuriating, and I've had quite a lot of time to work on more pranks."

"That you will no doubt use at school," Remus chuckled.

As the group started to talk with each other more, the back door opened. Derek appeared in the doorway and waltzed over to the group once he recognized Iris.

He flashed her a large, charming smile, "Happy New Year, Iris." Once again, his undivided attention was on her and her alone. Everyone could see that.

"Derek, hey, Happy New Year." Iris' voice became laced with sugar. She was happy to see Derek there. She wanted to hang out with her new muggle friend and get to know him better while simultaneously having fun teasing him.

Remus and Peter stared at the newcomer with critical eyes. They could already tell that the muggle was going to prove to be an obstacle for Iris' and Sirius' progressing relationship. Things were going to get far more complicated…

"These are friends of mine from school," Iris said nodding to the wizards and witches. "Remus, Peter, Matilda and Ida, guys this is Derek." All of them smiled at the muggle and greeted him accordingly.

"It's nice to meet some of Iris' friends from school," Derek commented as he turned his gaze back to said girl, specifically her wrist. It didn't seem possible, but his smile had grown wider at the sight of the silver bracelet on her wrist. He blushed slightly at the fact that she wore his gift and had to admit that it looked perfect on her.

* * *

The group had brushed off the snow from the table that was in the Evans' backyard and sat around it. Matilda had Ida sitting on her lap with her arms wrapped around her middle to make sure that anyone who gaped and stared at her(though they couldn't really help it because of her heritage) knew that someone already claimed the half-veela. Peter and Remus grabbed a pair of chairs to sit around the round glass table. Meanwhile, Iris had taken the liberty of seating herself on Derek's lap.

The muggle boy had been flustered once she had hopped on top of him, but he took it in stride. The two of them seemed quite comfortable with each other despite only knowing each other for a short time. Once again, Iris had compared her developing relationship to the one she already had with Sirius.

She and Sirius had barely known each other a short time before she started to have… more sentimental conversations with each other. She felt a high level of comfort with Sirius and built a strong trust with him that was forged in such a short time. She didn't think that it was the same with Derek.

Yes, Derek was obviously a nice guy, trustworthy, and Iris wasn't uncomfortable with him… but Iris hadn't established that same level of comfort with him as she did with Sirius. Just another difference between them, she sighed to herself. She still didn't know why she was comparing them so much. It shouldn't matter to her!

"I never thought that you went to school in France," Derek commented. His warm breath tickled the back of the redhead's neck which caused her to shiver slightly.

"Well, it was only for four years, now I go to school in Scotland."

Derek hummed, "what made you change schools?"

Iris chuckled as she shifted herself so she could look back at him properly, "got expelled." She shrugged her shoulders, indifferently.

"Must of done something really bad," said Derek with a raised eyebrow as he wanted her to elaborate.

She waved her hand dismissively, "it wasn't that bad, honestly."

Matilda scoffed, "bad? Madame Maxine was furious with the prank you pulled!"

Iris rolled her eyes, "it wasn't meant for her, she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Remus chuckled lightly, "which got you kicked out."

"It was bound to happen at some point!" The group laughed with each other loudly.

A cough interrupted their laughter which caused the group to look up at the pair of teens who stood off to the side with their arms crossed. Both Sirius and James stared at them with raised eyebrows. Sirius was glowering at Derek. He most certainly did not like the fact that his Iris was situated comfortably on another boy's lap. James was also peeved off though it wasn't due to Iris but rather her sister.

James had graciously gone over to greet the girl only to have her insult him(like usual) which he took in stride because nothing would deter him from even being annoyed with her. No, he was completely annoyed with the two muggles who had flanked her side. Especially that Oscar boy! James had certainly found his newest enemy.

"Ah, Sirius, James," Iris smirked as she saw their irked expressions, "glad you could make it."

The others greeted them warmly despite the cold weather as they pulled up their own chairs and the group with the newcomers delved back into a conversation. They all made sure the keep magic out of the conversation when it became apparent that Derek was, in fact, a muggle. Though Sirius had yet to pull his glare off of the other boy who still has Iris sitting in his lap. Derek shrunk slightly and did his best to ignore Sirius' grey-eyed stare that was burning a hole in his body. The conversation continued on despite both Sirius and Derek being slightly tense while Iris bit her lip in an attempt to stop herself from laughing. She could tell that a rivalry would already start to form between the two teenage boys.

As the Evans family and friends got drunk on alcohol and stuffed their faces with food, the magical teens plus Derek spoke with each other happily. Eventually, Lily, Oscar, and Samantha came out of the house to join them. James and Sirius had both been glaring at Oscar and Derek who appeared to be too close to their girls(even though they weren't their girls… yet!). Overall, the night was going well so far and there was only about one hour until the new year.

* * *

As midnight drew closer, Iris and Sirius had gravitated towards each other. At the moment, Iris was curled up against Sirius in an attempt to stay warm. Lily had grabbed the record player from her room and a few records to play outside. Both Marlene and Wendy had shown up at one point, Iris wasn't sure because she hadn't been paying attention. The pair were the only ones sitting while the other teens danced to the music and had fun. Sirius wrapped his arms tightly around her middle and tried to keep her as close as possible. Every once in a while he would send a smug glare at Derek to mentally brag to him that he now had Iris.

Iris tucked her head underneath Sirius' chin as he rubbed his hand up and down her arm in an attempt to help her stay warm. It certainly wasn't in an affectionate was, he was certain… mostly. He was just glad to finally see her again after being away from her for the break, there was no doubt about that. He wasn't completely thrilled to see her with another boy, but he forgot about that the moment she hopped onto him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He revealed in the scent of lavender and vanilla that surrounded the redhead while smirking. "I didn't think you were someone to be interested in a muggle, love." His words were slightly bitter to think of Iris possibly being interested in someone else… Merlin, he was sounding completely clingy.

Iris chuckled as Sirius shifted under her which obviously meant he was comfortable. "Hm? Problem, darling?" They moved so they could look at each other properly. "Need I remind you, I am a muggle-born witch, I grew up with muggles."

Sirius snorted, "I know."

The two of them sat in silence for a moment while gazing into each other's eyes. The sounds of their friends' laughter and excited shouts were drowned out as they kept eye contact. Iris smiled softly, "I really liked the letter that you sent me." She couldn't help the maroon hue from crawling up her cheeks.

"Really?" Sirius asked as a stupid smile consumed his face. He wasn't sure about the letter. As soon as the Potter's owl had taken it and flew away he had become far too nervous about what she would have thought about it. He knew that it was completely sappy and something that he most likely wouldn't say out loud. For the first time ever, Sirius was completely anxious about what a girl would think about him. Though Iris was something new and obviously drew out so many different emotions that Sirius was going to have to get used to if he wanted to continue to try and woo her. It also was the first time that Sirius had taken the liberty to send a letter to any girl that he had shown any sort of interest in.

"Yeah, it was…" she looked for the right word for a moment, "sweet, really sweet, Sirius."

Sirius ran a hand through his shaggy hair arrogantly, "well, I knew that you would like it."

Iris rolled her eyes and smirked, "imagine if the boys saw what you wrote, wonder what they'd think."

His eyes narrowed, "you wouldn't."

"Wouldn't what, darling? I don't know what you're talking about."

Sirius continued to glare at the girl in his lap as she started to laugh. At the sound of her contagious laughter, a small smile of his own started to form on his lips. It grew, even more, when he reached to her neck to brush the moon-shaped necklace she was wearing. He had noticed it the moment he saw her when they arrived at her house. He most certainly didn't want to admit to how his stomach had flipped, his heart soared, and an unmistakable feeling of joy swarm in his chest when he saw it. He would sound like a softy if he did. Sirius isn't one to send a girl a gift. Iris was different and special, however. She deserved to be treated as such.

Iris' breath hitched when she felt his hand brush gently against the nape of her neck as he looked at the necklace. "I guess you liked my gift."

She shrugged her shoulders and looked away in hopes that he wouldn't see her rosy cheeks. "It's better than a few others that I've gotten."

"10!" They heard from inside and startled them slightly from their embrace, "9!" It appeared that the new year had snuck up on them without them knowing. "8!" Everyone was shouting loudly, whether they were drunk or sober. "7!" Iris and Sirius stared at each other for a moment as the same idea ran through their minds. "6!" Their heartbeats sped up, "5!" Anxiety swarmed each of their stomachs as their nerves started to become erratic. "4!" Iris leaned up as Sirius leaned down, "3!" Their breath mingled with each other as their eyes flickered down to their lips. "2!" In the back of their minds, there was a slight hesitation as their lips ghosted over each other. "1!"

The world seemed to stop for the both of them as their lips melted together. They had kissed quite a few people in their teenage lives though they did not compare to what they were currently experiencing. The music and shouts were gone as their ears seemed to ring and their attention was solely on the other. Sirius placed a hand on Iris' cheek and held it while the redhead in his embrace wrapped her arms around his neck.

Iris' mind was swimming and she was unable to make any sort of coherent thought. Contradictory to what Iris heard about him, his kiss was slow and soft. She had heard many stories about how… rough Sirius was known to be when it came to kissing. But at that moment, his slightly chapped lips moved slowly over hers and made no attempt to deepen it.

Sirius was being slow. He wanted to be. This was Iris, she deserved slow and sweet from him, he thought. Her lips were soft despite it being cold outside and he was able to taste her vanilla lip balm. Yes, Sirius had kissed many girls while at Hogwarts and had to admit he thought he was quite a good kisser. He knew how to make a girl hot and bothered. But that wasn't his intention with Iris. This was their first kiss together and he wanted it to be a sweet, memorable moment for both of them.

After what felt like an eternity, the pair of teens pulled away and tried to take in a gulp of air. Despite it being short, slow it left them completely breathless. Idiotic smiles blossomed on their faces as their hearts soared and their lips tingled.

"T-that was," Iris giggled(actually giggled and stuttered which is something that she never does) as she tried to collect herself, "that was good, yeah, good."

Sirius was just as flustered, if not more. He laughed, "it was very, very good, love."

Nothing else had to be said as neither of them could find any other words to describe the sensation that they just felt. It was heaven, complete bliss for the both of them. They certainly would have no problem with doing it again in the near future.

* * *

It was close to two in the morning when people started to leave the party. Goodbyes were shared between friends and family as each member of the Evans clan disappeared into the night. Iris yawned as she lounged on the couch while listening to James rant about Oscar. Ida and Matilda had left at around one o'clock after Ida had complained of being exhausted. That then left Iris no choice but to be forced to listen to James.

"He's annoying!" He practically screeched to the other Marauders and Iris as they sat around the living room. Oscar and Samantha had left only a few minutes ago and Lily had gone into her bedroom with Wendy and Marlene. "The know-it-all thought that he knew… everything, he is so conceited!"

Iris snorted lazily as she leaned on Sirius' shoulder, "welcome to my world, Potter."

James rolled his eyes with a huff, "I wish I could just hex him or something!"

The words about cursing the infuriating muggle died on James' lips when Derek came waltzing into the room. All of their eyes moved to him as he smiled kindly to each of them. "It was nice meeting you all!" His eyes shined happily though they lingered on Iris for a few seconds longer than they should have.

Iris stretched as she detached herself from Sirius' side and stood up, "c'mon, Derek," she motioned him to the door, "I'll show you out."

Derek followed Iris to the door where she opened it and was bombarded with a cold wind. The muggle exited the house and stood on the doorstep before turning back to Iris. "This was really nice, Iris."

She smirked while crossing her arms over her chest, "yeah, we should hang out again."

Derek puckered his lips as he seemed to be contemplating something. There was a shine in his eyes that screamed embarrassment and reluctance. Iris barely had any time to ask why he had started to fidget nervously as he bit his bottom lip slightly when he practically jumped at her. He attached his lips onto hers in a rushed manner.

The kiss was a peck and only lasted a millisecond. It was completely rushed and innocent as Iris could tell that Derek had most likely never kissed anyone before. It wasn't like the one she had shared with Sirius a few hours before. Sirius was definitely more experienced when it came to something like kissing. She liked that aspect of Sirius, no she practically loved it. However, there was something that intrigued her about Derek's naivety. She liked it to an extent. Yet she enjoyed Sirius' kiss far more.

_Stop comparing the two!_ She scolded herself.

She abruptly pulled away from Derek who was blushing madly. The boy cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck. "U-uh, sorry, I-Iris," he started frantically as he could already tell his decision was not the best. "I d-didn't mean to!"

Iris felt like that was a bit of a lie. She had a feeling that Derek did not regret kissing her, though he wished it was less awkward. If she didn't have the comparative thoughts about Sirius and Derek running through her mind, Iris would have smirked and teased him about how nervous he was. But she couldn't do that.

The redhead flashed him a tight-lipped smile. "It's fine," She shook her head, "see you, Derek."

The muggle teen gulped as he realized that he really shouldn't have kissed her. He had an inkling feeling that Iris was quite close to that shaggy-haired boy, Sirius, from the way that they kept each other close. However, he couldn't help but think that she acted the same way with him. He knew that she was quite the flirtatious girl and only thought that the close touching and teasing was something she did with nearly every guy. He was certain that Iris wasn't dating anyone, so he didn't think that there was anyone that could intervene in his obvious pursuit for the girl.

He nodded his head shakily, "right, yeah. I-I'll see you."

With that, Derek shuffled away embarrassed though his heart was pumping out of his chest. He didn't think that his first kiss would end up like that. Yet he still allowed himself to revel in the euphoria of actually kissing a girl. A girl like Iris Evans, man, despite him being completely nervous about it and her reaction he was thrilled with the fact that he got to kiss a girl like her.

Iris watched him go with pursed lips for a moment before closing the door with a thoughtful expression. She was so distracted by her own thoughts that she didn't notice the pair of narrowed grey eyes staring at her before flickering to the closed door with jealousy burning in them.


	12. The Snake’s Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that you're holidays were awesome and I wish you all a happy new year! I think that I'm going to update this story a few times this week just because I feel like it. I thank you for everyone who has read this story and left kudos. I appreciate it very much. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

**"NO! WE AREN'T DONE HERE, YOUNG LADY!"** Craig shouted as he followed his middle child across the platform as she tried to avoid him. He had been ranting and raving ever since he found out about the kisses that Iris had shared with both Sirius and Derek. Of course, Iris had tried to make sure that he didn't find out about it, but Lily had to open her big mouth and tell both of their parents when she said she wouldn't.

Iris was slightly reluctant to tell Lily about what happened because she knew that something like this would have happened, which it did. But when the Marauders left the party yesterday and it was only the quartet of girls consisting of the twins, Marlene and Wendy, the other girls had instantly started to interrogate her on her interactions with the boys. They pointed out the closeness between Iris and Derek and the way that he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. They squealed at the gifts that both Sirius and Derek had given her and debated about the obvious attraction between the girl and both boys.

She had mentioned the kiss with Sirius by accident and nearly went deaf at the screams that the girls had let out. Eventually, they were able to get her to talk about the kiss between her and Derek as well after annoying her for a long time. She felt like she was going to vomit at how much of a girl they had forced her to be. She is not a girl to gossip and giggle about boys, but she had been forced to stup to the level of a girly-girl yesterday when they wouldn't leave her alone.

"I'm pretty sure we are!" She sassed over her shoulder as she pushed past a man with a briefcase who nearly toppled over at her abrupt movement. She was practically running around King's Cross while avoiding as many collisions with people as she could. Though occasionally she would end up bumping into an unsuspecting bystander who would drop their luggage or something.

As soon as Craig had pulled the car up to the train station, Iris bolted out of it with her trunk in order to get away from her father. He was already trying to give her a talk about boys and what not because he was far too overprotective over his daughters. He would do anything in his power to make sure that they stayed as pure and untouched as he wanted them to be. No boy was going to get close to them if he had a say in it! He really shouldn't have let any of those boys to step foot through the front door.

He really only got to talk with the sandy-haired boy, Remus Lupin. The boy proved to be quite the respectable young man and Craig approved of him greatly. The chubby boy, Peter Pettigrew, was strange, but he didn't expect anything else from a wizard, truthfully. He obviously had already met Derek and to him seemed like a nice boy. James Potter seemed like a charming boy, yet Craig was able to see through the interactions between Iris that he was already one of her best friends and could tell why Lily referred to him as an 'annoying toe-rag'. Craig was uncertain about the boy as he could tell he loved to cause trouble. The last boy from the magical school that had come to see Iris was obviously full of himself, Craig had observed. He was mischievous, a troublemaker and as big of a flirt as Iris(which he didn't want to admit to her being a big flirt). It was no surprise that Sirius Black was the one to kiss his little girl! Craig didn't like it. Not one bit!

"Far from it, Iris Evans!" Craig demanded as he started to gain on the teenager.

Lily and Octavia followed behind them at a slower pace. They didn't want to be publicly seen with them as they knew they were going to argue loudly. Neither mother nor daughter wanted to be embarrassed openly by Iris and Craig. Octavia giggled lightly as she saw her husband chase after their daughter shouting about continuing their conversation that was of the utmost importance to him. She was actually more excited about Iris seeming to show a greater interest in boys than her hysteric husband, much to his dismay.

For years, Iris had used boys as a source of entertainment. She played around with their emotions by teasing them and flirting with them. Octavia wasn't always the biggest fan to those interactions with boys for her, but she knew that at some point or another some boy was finally going to intrigue her. Though it seemed like it was two boys who had piqued Iris' interest.

Octavia thought that both boys were quite nice. Though Derek was by far much more of a goody-two-shoes when compared to the wizard. Sirius was a rambunctious teen who mirrored Iris' personality almost perfectly. She could honestly see Iris dating Sirius on the fact that they were so much alike. Octavia could also see Iris and Derek possibly being a couple because Derek was the complete opposite of Iris. But it wasn't her decision to make, Iris had to choose for herself. Iris may have experience with messing with people who fancied her and recognizing such emotions, but Octavia was certain that Iris was going to have a hard time recognizing her own feelings and dealing with them. It was most certainly going to be interesting to see how everything panned out for the teen. However, if nothing turned out to be as perfect for her little girl as she thought it would end up being, Octavia was more than willing to help Iris and be a shoulder to cry if needed(which she hoped was not needed because she didn't like seeing any of her daughters cry).

"Dad's overreacting," Lily pointed out as she carried her trunk beside her. "It was bound to happen at some point, Iris kissing the two of them."

Her mother nodded his head, "yes, I'm sure. But you know how your father can get about boys!"

They followed the tail of disgruntled people who grumbled under their breath about a rude girl and enraged man to find Craig and Iris waiting by the barrier. Iris had her arms crossed over her chest with a peeved off expression. Craig's face was completely red in frustration and annoyance as his mouth moved at a mile a minute as he continued to rant about the boys.

"-Under my roof as well! I'm happy for you for experiencing your first -and second- kiss, but I would have appreciated them not being in our house!"

Iris scoffed absentmindedly, "they weren't my first kisses."

It took a moment for her words to sink into his mind but as soon as they did he blanched. That seemed to open even more floodgates for the man and would earn her far more arguing. Octavia rested a hand on her husband's forearm and sighed. "You can finish your lecture when they come back, she'll miss the train if you keep trying to reprimand her."

Craig glared down at his wife due to the fact that she did have a point. He stared at her long and hard before turning his glare onto his glowering middle child. "Fine, go." He huffed out, "have fun at school, but as soon as your back-!" He pointed at her, "we'll continue this discussion."

Iris rolled her eyes for what seemed the be the thousandth time since she had woken up. "Sure, dad." Her voice was lame and monotone as she knew that she wouldn't pay attention to his lecture later just like she was now.

Octavia moved away from him and embraced Iris in a loving hug, "go easy on your dad, Iris." She let go and held her daughter at arm's length, "he's just worried about you."

"He's got a strange way of showing it…"

Her mother chuckled and smothered down some of the red locks on top of Iris' head. "He's worried. You've never shown this kind of interest in anyone before!"

Iris could already tell that her mother was going to be just as girly as the rest of her friends. "I know that, but he doesn't have to shout at me about it."

Octavia smiled slightly, "just be good, okay? Don't get into too much trouble." She moved over to her youngest daughter and hugged her as well. "Make sure she doesn't get herself expelled again," she whispered into Lily's ear as she knew if she said it out loud, Iris would throw a fit over her words. "Do good with your studies and send us letters at least once a month to keep us updated."

"Okay, mum." Lily replied with a blinding smile.

Once the family of four(Petunia had fussed about staying home so no one fought her on it and left her alone) finished saying their farewells, the twins grabbed their trunks and piled them onto a trolly in order to push them through the barrier. Their surroundings melted away to reveal the vibrant platform with the Hogwarts Express sitting patiently on the tracks. They got their trunks put away and started their search for their friends and a compartment.

It only took them a few minutes to find Marlene who had jumped onto them in a warm hug in a greeting. Next, was Wendy who they found in a compartment already. The four conversed happily with each other and the two other girls couldn't help but notice a certain scent surrounding Iris.

"Are you wearing perfume, Iris?" Asked Wendy as she brushed some of her ebony hair from her face.

Iris scowled slightly and turned her head away in what seemed to be deviance, "yes."

Her sister shook her head, "I don't know why you're upset about it."

"It's from Severus! I do not and will not be associated with anything that has to do with him!" She seethed and crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"You two could make up…" Lily trailed off as she knew her sister would be as stubborn as usual. Yes, she was angry with Severus. However, she wanted all of them to be friends once again. Severus had been becoming distant to both of them and she didn't like it one bit. She knew that what Severus had done, more like didn't do, had shown that there was something slightly changing in him and it was obviously not for the better. She wanted to make sure that the other Slytherins who Severus had made friends with weren't feeding him their perspectives on blood-purity in the wizarding community. She didn't want to lose one of her greatest friends that she had since she was ten. Even if their friendship did end, Lily wanted it to be on good terms.

Iris scoffed, "make up?" The thought seemed to be absurd to her. How could she make up with a wanker who didn't stand up for her while his friends insulted her? If he wasn't willing to say something to them and stop them from calling one of his closest friends a 'Mudblood', like she has done multiple times in the past, she wasn't going to easily forgive him. If he wanted her forgiveness, he'd have to show he was worthy of it.

"Why would you want to make up with that git?" Marlene practically shouted, "he's lucky I wasn't around. So are Malfoy and Black, I would have cursed their areses!"

Iris agreed wholeheartedly. She didn't want to use the perfume that Severus had gifted them at Christmas! Lily had practically forced the fragrance on her by nearly pouring the entire contents of the vial onto her. Nothing could stop Lily from getting her to dawn the surprisingly nice smelling perfume. Not even Iris' arguments about Severus' suspicious and distant activity could sway the younger sister's actions. They seemed to only encourage Lily to try harder. She must have only seen it as a way for Iris and Severus to make up. If Severus knew that Iris was wearing the gift that he had given her, then he would try to make amends with her. Fat chance!

Surprisingly, Lily had thought that Iris was willing to work it out with Severus after she attacked the girl with the perfume. As soon as the fragrance had been sprayed on her, it was almost like she had forgotten why she was angry at Severus and even asked about him. Lily thought that it was progress to trying to get their relationship off of the rocks. Though after a few moments, Iris was back to being angry… and didn't even remember her calm words about the boy. It was strange, but Lily brushed it off. Iris was a strange girl.

"I have to agree to an extent," Wendy commented, "he didn't stand up for her. A friend should do that without a doubt. He's got to apologize to her for what he didn't do."

Lily nodded her head slowly as her eyes moved towards the floor. She had to admit that yes, she was offended and angry with Severus. But unlike her twin, she was far more forgiving. "He should. Yes, he really should explain and apologize to you." She replied reluctantly while looking up to Iris.

As their conversation about the relationship between the twins and Severus came to a close, there was a knock at the compartment door. The four heads turned to see two tall shadows looming in the foggy glass windows. Each girl shared a quick, confused look with each other. Iris, being the closest to the door, stood up and slide the door open.

"Hello, Evans," the black-haired boy that was revealed from behind the door. His smug smirk greeted the compartment's occupants who were scowling. He tutted as he saw their malice filled looks, "now, now. Don't look so upset."

Next to him, Lucius smirked as well, "to think, we only wished to be kind and greet you lovely blood-traitors after the break." In his usual fashion, his lip was pulled back in a sneer. You would think that if Lucius held such a hatred for anyone he saw as a mudblood or a blood-traitor he would distance himself as much as he could from those he thought tarnished the image of the wizarding world. Yet, for some strange reason, he allowed himself and Regulus to constantly be around and bother Iris; a mudblood, in his words.

Both of the boys surveyed the small group before zeroing in on the glowering girl who had opened the door. Iris' narrowed eyes moved between the two of them and it was quite obvious that her brown irises were drenched in annoyance and hatred.

Then dull grey eyes connected with fiery chocolate ones as the two teens stared at each other…

The fire that seemed to burn in the teen girl's eyes slowly died. It looked like her eyes had glazed over slightly and lost focus. Her facial expression fell and lost its menacing glare. She became relaxed and any sign of her hatred was gone.

Regulus eyed Iris a moment before his smirk seemingly widened. He looked at Lucius with a smug, triumphant smile that didn't go unnoticed by the other girls in the compartment. He turned back to Iris, "I think we should go," he commented while not breaking eye contact with the seemingly paralyzed redhead in front of him.

Iris nodded her head absentmindedly, "yeah, okay." There was no bite to her words or malice drenching them like they always do. Her voice was void of any emotion and completely bland it was as if she completely forgot about who exactly she was speaking with. Lucius nodded his head in what looked like appreciation. With nothing else to say, the two Slytherin boys disappeared down the corridor in order to find a compartment and their fellow Slytherin who they had to congratulate.

The three other girls watched as Iris continued to stare into blank space and the way that the two teenagers had gone. It took her a moment to try and collect herself. As soon as she did, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Huh?"

Her eyes lost the milky color that drained the brown of out her irises. It was as if she was allowed to breathe once again and her mind was clear. Iris wasn't sure but she felt like her mind had blanked out for a short minute. She finally gained clarity as her ears stopped ringing and allowed her to hear the bombardment of questions from her friends.

"What was that, Iris!?" Marlene shouted.

"Why didn't you… scream at them?! Why did you let them just walk away?!" Wendy, completely flabbergasted, yelped while pulling the disoriented girl back down into her seat.

Iris looked from the three frustrated faces in front of her with bewildered eyes. "What do you mean?"

Lily eyed her sister in skepticism, "you didn't yell at Lucius when he called us blood-traitors!" Her mouth felt numb with the fact that she had to say it out loud. It wasn't like Iris to just allow someone to insult her and her friends like that. Especially people like Regulus Black and Lucius Malfoy.

"…He called us blood-traitors…?" Her voice swelled with confusion and doubt. "I didn't hear him say that… I must of missed it."

She brushed it off so casually! It was like Lucius had just forgotten her name instead of called her a derogatory term. All of their jaws dropped and they simultaneously yelled out, "What!"

Iris huffed and frowned, "I didn't hear him, okay… I didn't really hear much…"

"Well, what did you hear?" Lily asked.

Iris thought for a moment and couldn't come up with anything. It was like her mind was completely blank to the notion of Lucius or Regulus insulting her. They couldn't insult me. She had no idea where that thought had come from and panicked slightly at it… before it drifted from her mind and memory like a leaf on the wind.

She shrugged her shoulders indifferently as it seemed she didn't find her behavior odd… because she could not remember the interaction… "I don't know, just some sort of ringing in my ears. I guess I've conditioned myself to ignore those twats completely!" She laughed loudly. Her friends could only share a concerned look as they knew that this was weird behavior, even for Iris.

* * *

Elsewhere, Severus Snape fiddled with the ends of his robes as he was huddled in the corner of a compartment. He was worried. Very worried. His relationship with both Iris and Lily were on the rocks, he knew that. There was no denying that the two feisty redheads were going to be stubborn as always and ignore him. Though he thought that they had a good reason to stay away from him. And there was also one reason that they had no idea about. If Severus was to be honest, he's glad that the two of them would stay away, especially Iris. That way he could have a higher hope of Iris not getting caught up with Regulus and Lucius. He really wished that he could have ignored Lucius and Regulus and their stupid plan…

The door slid open to the compartment which startled the poor teen out of his conflicting thoughts. The boys who he feared sauntered into the compartment. He instantly noticed the air of cruel triumph surrounding the two of them. Dread started to seep into his mind as he wondered what they had done to feel satisfied with their work.

"Ah, Severus," Lucius drawled out as he slithered into his seat next to the boy, "we must congratulate you."

Regulus nodded his head with a smirk as he sat across from the two of them. His grey eyes gleamed with victory which caused a shudder to run down Severus' spine. "It seems that your potion is showing some promise, Severus."

Severus gulped, "r-really?" He tried to keep the shock and terror from his voice. He didn't think that his potion would really work. At least, he hoped that it wouldn't work. His hopes were in futile though now that he knew that Iris was showing symptoms of the potion.

Lucius nodded his head, "a stronger dose of it will do the trick I think."

As Regulus and Lucius started to go delve deep into what heir plan would be, Severus trembled in his seat. He never had any true intention of helping the two snakes in their plan… He honestly didn't want to hurt his friend. However, he thought that he didn't have much choice. When in reality, if he was strong enough, if he could advocate for himself and his friends… he wouldn't be in this situation. He really was pathetic.

Regulus gazed at the teen and was able to see the troubled expression on his pale face. "You're not having doubts are you?"

The sneer was evident and the venom that dripped from his mouth seemed like it was pooling on the carpeted floor below him. Severus shakily shook his head in fear. He didn't want them to think that he was doubting helping them now that his potion had started to work properly.

"Good," Regulus said even though he still eyed Severus with narrowed eyes that made him look even more like a snake. "What we're doing," he started off as it was obvious he was threatening him, "is going to help our Lord. It may seem cruel to you, Severus, but you need to remember," he smirked. His words grew cold and slid past his lips dripping with malice, "Iris Evans is nothing but a filthy mudblood."

* * *

The train glided across the tracks through the chilly English air. The ride to Hogwarts was about halfway done. Like in all of the other compartments on the train, the Marauders were talking to each other about what they had done over the break.

"It was nice of them to invite us," Peter commented on the fact that Iris and, begrudgingly, Lily allowed them to come to the party at their house. Lily most certainly wouldn't have allowed them to come! They could really only thank Iris for the fact that she invited them. It was also quite obvious that their father had not been completely happy about the idea of them going to the party either. Though their mother was quite nice and very welcoming!

The others nodded their heads. "Their dad didn't seem to like us though," James commented with a nervous laugh. He knew that Mr. Evans hadn't been very keen on allowing them into his home. They all knew that if he had his way, They would have been locked out or not even allowed to step foot in his town.

"At least we finally got to see where the girls live," said Remus.

"Muggle homes are strange!" Peter yelped in amusement as the three boys who were paying attention nodded their heads(though Remus did have an idea about what muggle homes were like due to him being half-muggle). The only boy who didn't nod his head was Sirius. If anything, he wasn't paying attention to the conversation. It seemed that as soon as the party was mentioned, Sirius tuned it out and opted to just look out the window. It was obvious that he didn't appreciate the topic of conversation.

Did he enjoy the party? Yes, very much. The kiss that he had shared with Iris was… far beyond magical. He couldn't imagine any other time where he had felt such euphoria or giddiness in his life. Though the night had been stained slightly with the fact that he saw that muggle boy, Derek, kiss his Iris. His chest had been set aflame as soon as he saw it and nearly had the mind to go after the boy and curse him or something! The rest of that night he had sulked about it. Being the moody teenager that he was, he avoided Iris the rest of that night and opted to sit next to James and try to distance himself from her.

Why did he feel such hatred for the other teenage boy? It most certainly had to do with Iris and the fact that they kissed… but Sirius shouldn't be so angry about it! He and Iris weren't in a… relationship. The fact that Iris may like that muggle more than him did bother him but it wasn't like he had a claim to make on her. Technically she was free to do what she wanted. Though that didn't mean that he had to like it.

"Awe," James' annoying coo brought Sirius from his conflicting thoughts. The black-haired boy turned to his glasses-wearing best friend with a slight scowl as he could already tell that he was going to be teased. "Is little Paddy upset about the party?"

All of the boys knew about the kiss that Sirius and Iris had and about the one Iris and Derek shared due to Sirius ranting about it himself. If he didn't want them to tease him about it, then he shouldn't have told them about it. For what are friends for if not teasing and making fun of each other about different things.

Sirius shook his head with his scowl ever-present on his face. He jabbed James in the stomach with his elbow, "and if I am?" He allowed himself to smirk, "at least I got to kiss my girl while there. You, mate, will most likely never get to kiss your precious Lily."

James didn't let his words wound him in any way. He knew that it would take a while before he was even allowed to be in the same room alone with Lily. She was a stubborn witch, though that made the chase for her love even better. Just as much as Sirius got a thrill out of having Iris who could go toe to toe with him with flirting and teasing, James like the challenge of pursuing his stubborn lady love.

"But she also didn't kiss any other guys while there," Remus couldn't help but pitch in which earned him a glare from Sirius. He raised his hands in defense, "I'm just stating a fact, Padfoot."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "whatever, Moony."

"We're almost at school," Peter piped in, "we should probably get our uniforms on…"

The others nodded their heads and started to pull out their uniforms in order to get dressed. They were going to arrive at Hogwarts soon enough and they wanted to get to the feast as soon as possible. That was evident from the fact that each of the boys were starving and every once and a while their mouths watered at the thought of the piles of food that would decorate the Gryffindor table later.

* * *

Once the train pulled into the Hogsmeade station, the platform was flooded with hundreds of students. Most were bummed about having to come back to school while others were thrilled to be back at Hogwarts. Iris had escaped the questions of her friends and somehow found the Marauders among the train platform.

The five of them hopped into a carriage and allowed it to carry them up the hill to Hogwarts. They chatted with each other and joked around. All the while, Sirius did his best to avoid Iris. He sat as far away from her as he could and didn't look into her eyes.

Iris' eyebrows were furrowed at his strange behavior but brushed it off. Sirius could be strange sometimes, she shrugged, perhaps it was just one of those days. They followed the flow of other Hogwarts students and walked into the Great Hall. Of course, before they could make it to the Gryffindor table, a pair of narrowed eye snakes decided to stop them.

The group just about all scoffed or growled at their appearance, "good to see you all too," Lucius snapped as the two became a wall separating the group from getting to their seats.

James glared at the bleach-blonde prat, "sod off, Malfoy." He obviously already knew that the two boys wanted to cause trouble with them as usual. James and the other Marauders so hoped that they wouldn't have to deal with these two for some time. Though it looked like their luck had run out for the night.

"Oh," Regulus imitated confusion while turning to Iris, "I can see where you get your attitude, Evans!"

Iris' jaw clenched while glaring at them, "stop ruining the night, Black. Let us through."

Regulus snorted in a laugh, "you are so rude, Iris," Sirius didn't like the way that his brother said her name. "You should learn to respect your peers."

Once again, Iris' mind became foggy as she continued to stare at the slightly younger boy. Her ears rang and her body became cold as her mind suddenly stopped producing any thoughts that were her own.

The Marauders continued to glower at the pair while throwing insults at them. Though Sirius noticed how quiet Iris had become. It wasn't like Iris to stay quiet when Regulus and Lucius were around. Something wasn't right…

Regulus smirked as he saw the slacked look on Iris as she seemingly became comfortable in their presence. Oh, he was having such fun with how things were playing out. A sick satisfaction and accomplishment swirled in his gut as he witnessed Iris' attitude towards himself and Lucius change completely.

"Get out of the way," Sirius growled while grabbing Iris' forearm and trying to pull her away. Though he found that she was slightly resistant with being forcibly removed from her spot. It was almost like she didn't want to leave… Which she should be! She should be cursing the Slytherins' existences and hexing them for even breathing. She should want to try and get as far away from them as she could. However, now she seemed to be content and calm in their presence. Something was wrong… really, really wrong.

The grey-eyed and blonde Slytherins moved out of the group's way and allowed them to past. Sirus couldn't help but notice the way that Iris' eyes followed after the nuisances who were smirking widely. They allowed themselves to be swallowed into the crowd of other students and make their way towards the table.

"You okay," Sirius asked Iris once he let go of her arm.

Her pale face was still relaxed and held no sign of malice. He knew something wasn't right. For the short time that Sirius had known Iris, she was most certainly a spit-fire and not one to keep quiet. For her to not to say anything to those slimy snakes was unsettling.

Iris nodded her head absentmindedly as she gazed across the sea of students with milky eyes. Sirius snapped his fingers in front of her face and stared at her confused.

The redhead blinked a few times as she regained her senses. Her eyes became clear and focused on the boy in front of her. Her eyebrows were pulled together as she looked at him surprised. "Yes, Sirius?"

He stared at her for a moment in contemplation. He tried to wrap his head around her strange behavior, "are you okay?"

His words were slow and clear which caused Iris to stare at him with furrowed eyebrows. Questions ran through her head as to why he seemed to be so… concerned? Was he really concerned for her? If so, what for? She honestly wasn't sure.

She smirked at him, "of course I'm okay, Darling."

Sirius eyed her critically. She seemed fine… She wasn't staring off into space like she was before as she lost that blank look on her pale face. However, Sirius could see in her brown eyes that there was something… unusual swimming in them as she stared at him.

Iris rolled her eyes, "stop looking at me like that, Sirius." She leaned forward and grabbed his tie in order to pull him closer to her. In an instant, the two teens faces were inches from each other. Their minds had instantly been reminded of only a few nights before when they were in nearly the same position.

Sirius' cheeks started to burn slightly with a soft pink that gave Iris a strong feeling of satisfaction. Though she had to admit that she was also slightly flustered at their close proximity as she remembered that night. She remembered how their breath had mingled together as they embraced each other due to the cold. She remembered the She in no way wanted to admit it out loud, but she most certainly wanted to have the giddy feeling envelope her again. Though she pushed those feelings away and tried to ward away the blush creeping up her neck.

"I'm completely fine," Iris lets go of his tie, albeit reluctantly and tried to keep her composure by not letting her smirk slide off of her face. She spun on her heels and started to sashay away to find a seat next to her sister. Sirius watched her go with wide eyes as he once again became flustered to the fact that she could so easily rile him up. Though the constant thoughts about her strange behavior were still ever-present in the back of his mind.

* * *

After the stomachs of all the student body were filled to the brim with succulent foods and sweet drinks, everyone started to head to their dorms to sleep. Iris had left the dinner slightly earlier than she usually would have. Which once again was strange. Sirius was starting to become increasingly worried about her.

Not only him, but the girls were surprised by the fact that Iris Evans had wanted to leave the feast early. Iris most certainly couldn't be in her right mind if she would willingly deprive herself of eating anything else. When they questioned her, she had complained of a headache and really wanted to go up to the dorm and sleep. They didn't argue with her and allowed her to go. It was obviously something serious for her to leave so they wanted to make sure she did what she could do to feel better.

Even though they didn't question her further about it, they went to the Marauders. Which is where they were at the moment. It was strange to see Lily willing going to see the group of boys due to the fact that it was known all over the school that she detested James Potter's existence. However, considering she wanted to find out about the well-being of her sister, she would suffer being in the teenagers' presence.

"She's been acting strange," Lily said once she was finished explaining what had happened on the train.

Remus nodded his head in thought, "she was quite quiet when Regulus and Lucius walked over to us."

Marlene pointed at him, "see that isn't normal!"

"It was like she… lost herself for a few moments before going back to normal." Wendy commented as the group walked along the corridors towards the Gryffindor tower. She bit the inside of her cheek, "it was unsettling."

James sighed, "so what do you think's happening then?"

The girls all glance at each other unsure. "No idea," Lily said, disheartened as her worry was obvious.

Sirius shook his head in thought. He didn't like the behavior that Iris was exhibiting and he most certainly didn't like the satisfaction his brother got out of it. He had a sickening feeling that Regulus had something to do with Iris' weird behavior.

Speak of the Devil and he shall appear, Sirius bitterly thought as his younger brother came walking down the corridor. His eyes glared at the smug boy who was walking towards the stairs. He shook his head and growled lightly which caught Peter's attention.

The pudgy boy tilted his head at his friend, "is something wrong, Padfoot?"

Sirius briefly nodded his head, "I'll be back."

With that, the group watched as Sirius matched towards the stairs that would lead to the dungeons. They all glanced at each other worriedly as they watched the obviously angry teen walk away. They didn't know if they wanted to intervene with him and his brother. They figured that Sirius could handle him. At least, he could handle the young snake better than the rest of them probably could.

Regulus paused in his step as an obviously enraged Sirius stomped over towards him. His ever-present infuriating, smug smirk was on his face. Nearly identical grey eyes focused on each other. One pair was calm and reflecting a suffocating amount of arrogance while the other was burning with nothing short of rage.

"Brother dearest," Regulus greeted him. His sickly silky voice slithered from his teeth like a snake that was ready to strike Sirius. "To what do I owe the pleasure."

Sirius' jaw clenched, "what's wrong with Iris?"

Regulus stared at him wide-eyed as he displayed faux confusion on his face. "What do you mean?" He tried to keep the sly smirk from crawling on his lips, "something's wrong with Iris?" Sirius only continued to glare at his brother. "I saw her leave dinner early, is she sick?"

The older out of the two scoffed, "you did something to her, didn't you?" Regulus stayed silent. However, Sirius was able to see a certain glint of triumph in his eyes that worried him immensely. Sirius pointed at his brother to try and intimidate him, "I know you did something to her. When I find out what it is and if you've hurt her…" He trailed off slightly as he couldn't put into words the amount of pain that he would put Regulus(and any of the other snakes who helped him harm Iris in any way) through.

Regulus only continued to stare at him indifferently with a raised eyebrow. "Is that all, Sirius?" The way he said his name made it sound as though he had just uttered something that left a bad taste in his mouth. Sirius only glared at him harsher as he conveyed his threat silently. Regulus' smirk did not falter, "We best head to our dorms, classes start tomorrow."

The younger boy then pushed Sirius out of the way and started his journey down to the Slytherin common room. All the while, Sirius watched him go with a scowl. At that moment he swore to himself. He swore that he would make sure no one(not even his slimy brother) would ever hurt Iris. Ever. Sirius would much rather die than see his beloved redhead hurt.

* * *

"So, Snape," Regulus' voice drawled as he glared menacingly at the other teen. "How long will it take you to get another potin to Evans?"

The greasy-haired boy gulped in fear and shook slightly. His hands played with the ends of his robe sleeves as he was cornered in the gloomy Slytherin common room. The haunting glow of the fireplace only a few feet from the trio of boys barely did anything to lighten the room. It didn't even stop the chill that slithered up Servus spine as the stares of the other two Slytherins were pinned on his pathetic form.

He swallowed thickly, "i-it'll take me some time to brew it a-again."

Lucius scowled down at him as if he was a bug that he was going to step on. "How soon, Snape?"

"S-soon!" Severus yelped as he backed himself into the corner slightly to try and get away from his tormentors. "By the end of the month!"

The two others glanced at each other quickly before smirking in satisfaction. Regulus clapped his hand onto Severus' shaky shoulder as his smirk grew wider, "end of the month, Snap. And this time, make the dose stronger," he breathed out a laugh, "soon enough we'll have the little mudblood working for us."

He couldn't wait to see that happen. He most certainly couldn't wait to see their work finally done with. Regulus was looking forward to finally gaining the prize that they had been soughting for for most of the year. His brother wasn't happy about it… However, Regulus couldn't wait to see his devastated reaction when Iris was finally theirs to play with. There was no way that Sirius or any of those other blood-traitors could stop them.


	13. January 30th

**DAYS AT HOGWARTS FLEW BY QUITE QUICKLY** for Iris Evans. To her, it only felt like yesterday that she and her friends were all at her house enjoying New Years together. Yet, she could barely believe that the school year was almost halfway done. Though that only meant that summer was even closer than before. Soon enough, she wouldn't have to worry about classes, exams or serving detention. It would be nothing but spending time cooking up pranks and tricks in her room while most likely visiting Matilda and Ida in France.

However, she had yet to realize that it was the thirtieth of January. She was far too tired to even register the fact that she had put her vest on backwards and barely remembered how to tie her tie than to remember the date. She muttered and grumbled under her breath while trying to get herself ready. If she wasn't so absorbed in trying to get herself ready properly and her mind was less foggy from having just woken up, she would have remembered that it was her birthday.

Yes, it was that time of the year. Both Iris and Lily were finally a year older than they were before, sixteen to be exact. They were getting closer to becoming adults. Which is something that Iris wasn't looking forward to, completely. She'd finally get the freedom to do what she wanted when she wanted and with who. However, she would have to deal with the responsibilities that came with being an adult and she wasn't looking forward to that. It was well known that Iris doesn't do well with such things as responsibilities.

She yawned while snatching her school stuff and shoving it into her bag. The other girls had already gone downstairs once they finally got Iris up. Which left her to get ready by herself. She ran a hand through her knotted hair that she had yet to run a brush through as she trudged her way towards the stairs. She was completely tired from the night before.

Sirius and her had spent a longer time than usual in the common room. The arrogant teen had been extremely concerned for the redhead. She noticed that ever since they had gotten back from Christmas break, Sirius made it adamant that he never leave her side. He walked with her to class, ate every meal with her, followed her around the castle and spent an extended amount of time with her at night. She questioned him over and over about his… overprotectiveness but got no clear answer.

However, she wasn't necessarily complaining about the time they spent together… She did enjoy his company(which she didn't want to admit it out loud). It was just weird to her that he decided to become attached to her hip. Actually, over the past few weeks, all of her friends had seemed concerned for her. They stared at her most times like they were waiting for her to do or say something that she had no idea about. Just like Sirius, they didn't give her a clear answer for their behavior whenever she caught them staring.

She finally came down the bottom of the stairs and into the vibrantly colored common room after nearly falling down the steps due to her drowsy state. There were quite a few students mucking about by playing wizard chess or exploding snap while others gossiped with each other or whined about class. She saw that, like usual, Sirius was waiting to "escort" her down to the Great Hall for breakfast. The rest of the Marauders, Marlene and Wendy had already left while Lily stood in the middle of the common room. She also appeared to be waiting for her sister to come with them to breakfast.

"Took you long enough!" Sirius exclaimed once he saw the teenage girl. He jumped off of the velvety couch as Iris approached him and her sister.

Iris yawned, "sorry, I guess I'm just used to Lil's rigorous wake-up calls." Lily hadn't used the Aguamenti charm on her that morning, which was a surprise. That could be why she wasn't completely awake just yet. She wasn't greeted by the icy waters that would wake her up instantly as usual.

"Well, I thought that I would be nice today," Lily started to explain herself, "considering that today's our birthday."

Iris hummed though it seemed like she didn't truly hear what her sister had said. She nodded her head absentmindedly as she straightened out her uniform. "That's nice," she then lazily made her way towards the exit.

Sirius and Lily followed after her, "she didn't hear you, did she?"

Lily scoffed, "when does she ever?"

The pair followed after her and easily caught up to the redhead. Sirius swung his arm over her shoulder and pulled her into his side as the trio walked through corridors and down stairwells towards the Great Hall. They spoke to each other idly about classes and such. Though Lily was more so scolding both Sirius and Iris about studying for their exams as she knew both of them had barely even opened a single textbook.

The two trouble makers brushed her off while making empty promises about actually studying. They all soon came into the Great Hall and found the rest of their friends sitting at the table. Iris plopped herself next to Marlene and rested her head against the brunette's shoulder. Marlene didn't mind as she continued to munch on her breakfast.

"Mornin', Iris," Marlene said through her bites of bacon. The redhead hummed in reply as she lazily reached for some toast to eat.

"You seem like a ray of sunshine as usual," James comments with a snicker.

Iris rolls her eyes and grunted slightly but doesn't rebuttal him due to being too tired. She honestly was in no mood to tease or make any sarcastic remarks like she usually did. She was far too tired for that… she also just didn't feel well. There was a slight throbbing in the back of her skull that was slowly becoming bothersome. Iris knew that she would have to see about finding some sort of remedy for it at some point before it became too painful. She didn't even know where the headache had come from as she isn't usually a person to get migraines or headaches very often.

As Sirius and James started to complain about having to go to Defense against the dark arts class with the Slytherins, Lily and Wendy did their best to try and wake Iris up. They handed her plates of food to get her to eat and glasses of various drinks that she consumed at her normal, quick pace.

"So are you guys doing anything for today?" Wendy asked as she looked in between Iris and Lily.

Iris' eyebrows furrowed as she finished drowning herself with a cup of pumpkin juice. "Today? What's special about today?"

Marlene scoffed, "I would've thought that you would be singing all about today!"

Iris most certainly was the person who would scream and shout about her birthday. They could all see Iris being a person that would remind everyone constantly about her birthday. However, at that moment, it seemed like it was far to early in the morning for her to really start her yells.

They all shared a look which caused Iris to stare at them confused. "Seriously? What's special about today?"

Sirius chuckled at her confusion, "you've completely forgotten it, haven't you?"

Iris looked across at Lily who looked like she was thoroughly satisfied with something. "What is it? What did I forget this time?"

"You know," Lily started, "I never would have thought that you would have forgotten about something like this! I mean, you're always parading around telling everyone about our birthday. You never let anyone forget it being your birthday." She smirked, "oh, the irony."

Iris sat for a moment and let her sister's words wash over her mind. For a second, her thoughts were too hazy to truly comprehend her words. Though once she understood 'birthday' a large grin spread across her pale face. Mischief was sparked in her eyes which caused the girls to groan in unhappiness and the boys to yelp happily. The day was going to be _wonderful_.

* * *

Soon enough, breakfast ended and every student started to trudge their way around the castle to their classes. Iris was feeling slightly better and was able to sashay through the corridors without having to lean against one of her friends. She was far more awake than she was beforehand which could be due to the fact that she now knew it was her birthday.

How she forgot about it being her seventeenth birthday is unknown. However, that fact was completely forgotten about itself when Iris was back to her normal self and telling everyone and anyone that it was her birthday. She pranced down the corridors besides her friends with a skip in her step as she greeted everyone(except the Slytherins who sneered at her cheery attitude) with a large smile and a declaration of her birthday.

What was even better was that Iris was heading to her favorite class; Defense Against the Dark Arts. Sure, she would have to deal with the Slytherins while in class but the thought of getting to perform some new spells outweighed that fact.

She was never really sure why she loved DADA so much, she just did. Perhaps it was because many of the things that she learned during that class inspired her for new pranks and tricks. Also because she had a strange affinity to really understanding the Dark Arts and perform and defenses against them. Don't even get her started on all of the creatures that they learn about in that class as well!

It was surprising to think that Iris Evans _actually _looked forward to learning new things. It wasn't that she was against learning in its entirety. She just hated having to learn about things that she deemed useless. She despised History of Magic. What use was there to learn about the Troll Wars or the many different and pointless vampire treaties? It wasn't like she was going to need to know about it once she left school. And don't even get her started on Muggles studies.

She had taken that class in third year thinking that it was going to be an easy grade. How could it not be considering she was a _muggle_ herself. However, it was completely the opposite. Her professor, at Beauxbatons, was completely stuck up and thought that he knew everything and anything about muggles. He wouldn't even allow anyone to correct him on things that were blatantly wrong. Apparently, not even her, a muggle-born, could possibly have known more about muggles than a pure-blood wizard who had never met a muggle in his life. Iris didn't like that class, at all!

It wasn't like she liked it the same way she disliked potions class. She excelled at potions and understood it perfectly. As she used the potions to create new ones that were meant for her newest pranks. However, she didn't enjoy it completely. She liked spells and what not a tad bit more than potions.

She plopped herself down in her seat next to Wendy and threw her school materials onto their desk. As she shifted through her belongings, there were many different pairs of eyes watching her every move. She could feel the cold, beady eyes burning into her entire body. At this point, she used to feeling eyes on her constantly as her friends tended to watch her like hawks. However, this time it, the eyes that were watching her were harsher than her friends. There was no feeling of concern in them at all. She could only feel hatred singing her skin with their stares.

Iris knew that they were from the Slytherins in the room. Who else would look at her with such malice? Though the real question was: Why? She knew that the Slytherins hate Gryffindors(and the feeling was mutual) with a fiery passion and they disliked Iris even more because she played pranks on them almost constantly. However, this was even stranger! She did get a few glares and whatnot from other Slytherins but today, every single Slytherin was staring at her. Whether it was a glare or not, they just wouldn't look away. She felt like some sort of freak show at a circus whose only purpose was to be stared at!

She did her best to brush them off though it was _somewhat_ difficult. She just turned to Wendy to distract herself with some conversation. Iris really didn't care what they spoke about just as long as she could ignore their stares.

Not only were the Slytherins staring at her during DADA, but they were also staring at her while she walked through the corridors or in the Great Hall during lunch or even during the rest of her classes. Though she wouldn't let their strange behavior get her down. It was her birthday after all! She wouldn't let those snakes dampen her mood even a little bit.

* * *

The school day came to a slow, uneventful end. Tired students trudged through the halls after filling their stomachs at dinner. All of them were more than happy to just jump into bed and sleep for a week. At least it was Friday which meant they could sleep in the next morning and wind down over the weekend.

A group of Gryffindors were currently running about the common room. They were rearranging some furniture and placing some food that was stolen from the kitchens on tables. Students were buzzing around the room happily and getting ready for the small party.

They wanted to throw something for the twins seeing as it was Iris' first birthday spent at Hogwarts and whatnot. Wendy had set out on being in charge of nearly everything. She bossed around anyone and everyone who was willing to help(and those who weren't). The girl proved to everyone that she could be quite scary.

She directed people on what to do and how to do it. Wendy wanted to make sure that their small party went along smoothly. Which was why she had Marlene distracting the twins to the best of her ability. Last she knew, Marlene, Iris, and Lily were outside by the Black Lake. She was also certain that Iris had the idea of pushing Lily into the freezing water as a '_birthday surprise_', as she had put it. Merlin, Wendy was praying that Iris wouldn't do that sort of thing to her on _her_ birthday.

Wendy was currently instructing a few seventh-year Gryffindors to hang up some red and gold ribbons on the wall. She nodded her head in satisfaction at the sight of the banners and ribbons being put up properly. Though out of the corner of her eye, she was able to see the Marauders messing about as usual. She huffed and walked over to the group with a scowl.

She marched over to the boys and glared at them slightly, "you lot are no help!"

Sirius, James, and Peter were lounging on the couch in the common room. The only one who seemed to be helping out was Remus. He really was the most decent out of the group of four and Wendy admired that about him. Though she couldn't praise the teen for his help at the moment. She needs to get his best friends to help them as well.

"We're waiting for your command, Wen," James commented. The boys were tasked with getting the food from the kitchens and getting back without being caught and they had done just that. They had tried to help out some more only to be shouted at by Wendy for doing something wrong. So, not wanting to be shouted at again, the boys had sat themselves down to wait for further instructions.

Remus was the only one of the small group to take it upon himself to do another task. Though unlike the rest of the boys getting a scolding for "getting in the way", Remus was left alone to do what he saw fit. That may be due to Remus actually being someone who had the capacity to do things "correctly", in Wendy's eyes. Also because Remus was a guy who could accept some sort of responsibility without mucking about and making a game out of that task.

Wendy huffed, "well, listen good, boys!" She straightened herself when someone ran past and finished up some work for the party. "I need you two-" she pointed at Sirius and James who stared at her ready to finally do something. "-to go find Iris, Lily, and Marlene. Peter," the chubby boy jumped at the mention of his name. "You go get the presents and put them over there." She pointed to a table that already had a few assortments of boxes and bags on it.

The boys all abruptly stood up and saluted her mockingly, "yes ma'am!"

With that, they all headed off to do their tasks. Peter scurried over to find some more presents meant for Lily and Iris. James and Sirius dashed out of the common room and joked their entire journey through the corridors of the castle in search of their lady loves.

* * *

The sun beating down on the grounds of Hogwarts and make outside warm enough where most of the snow had melted away. The only remanence of the winter season was the sweating icicles that clung to the tall branches on the trees that lined the Black Lake. The lake itself was calm, unfrozen, and, Iris would imagine, beyond freezing. Which most likely explained why the sound of wild splashing and joyous laughter mingled together.

Iris clutched her stomach tightened as she tried to keep herself from falling onto the ground in pure enjoyment. Marlene also couldn't stop the giggles that escaped her lips. The object of their entertainment sputter and pant as she flailed around in the water. She glared at her sister and friend harshly as her body started to shake from the cold waters of the Black Lake.

The mischievous redhead had graciously decided to permit Lily to go for a little swim with the sole intent to entertain herself. Lily did her best to quickly get out of the water by swimming as fast as she could. She pulled herself out of the frigid water and did her best to wrap her arms around herself to create some sort of warmth.

"I-I… _hate_ you!" Lily stuttered out through her chattering teeth.

Her sister and friend only continued to laugh, "oh, that was brilliant! You should have seen your face!" Iris shouted out as she leaned on the giggling Marlene to stay upright. Eventually, the two fell to the ground in laughter when they couldn't keep themselves up.

Lily growled at them as she rung her long red hair out of all the water. She should have suspected something like this happening when Iris suggested that they go down to the Black Lake. At first, Lily didn't think too much of it. However, when Iris had forced her to get closer to the lake's edge to '_get a better look at the water_', Lily figured something was up. She should have seen it coming! Though now she was paying the price of not noticing the glint of mischief in the brown eyes of her sister. Now, she was soaked and cold!

This was the scene that James and Sirius walked up to see. With Lily shivering in soaked clothes and Iris and Marlene laughing hysterically, the boys couldn't help themselves but chuckle lightly at the scene. The two of them sauntered over to the trio lazily and came to stand behind the giggle girls.

"You three seem to be having a fun time," James commented.

Lily turned her glare onto the annoying teen who only smirked at her unfortunate situation. She rolled her eyes with annoyance clear in her voice, "what do you want, Potter?"

"We've come to get you," Sirius declared as he walked over to Iris and swung his arm over her shoulder like usual.

"Get us?" Iris questioned once she recovered from her fits of giggles. "What for?"

Sirius smirked, "you'll find out if you come back to the common room with us."

Iris raised an eyebrow and glanced at Lily who was swatting away James' wand as he tried to use a hot-air charm on her to dry her off. "Do you know what it's about?"

Lily shook her head while rolling her eyes at James' actions, "probably some party for our birthday."

"Ah," The older redhead turned up to Sirius and smirked, "guess we should head to the party then!"

With that said, Iris slipped out from underneath Sirius' arm and grabbed it instead. She started to pull him towards the castle as Marlene, Lily and James followed after. The cold wind swayed the damp grass and snowy tree branches as footfalls crunch the fallen leaves resting on the ground. As the two troublemakers ran ahead of their friends, Sirius' bark of a laugh drifted through the air and mingled happily with Iris' own joyous laughter.

* * *

Students laughed as they enjoyed each other's company in the brightly colored common room. The party that had been thrown for the twins was a complete success! Iris and Lily received quite a few gifts from friends that they enjoyed. Everyone gorged themselves on the food from the kitchens, played different games, and, overall, relaxed from the busy school week.

Iris appreciated the party greatly. Lily had been forcing her to go to the library and study until she couldn't see straight. Her twin had been going crazy with the fact that they had the O.W.L. to study for. She loved Lily dearly, however, she was really regretting going to school with her.

O.W.L.s were an important part of their school career and determined your standings in school and the classes you had to take for the next two years. Yet, Iris couldn't imagine what Lily would be like when the N.E.W.T.s came around in their seventh year. She had a feeling that Lily would keep her awake every day for months leading up to those tests. Merlin, Iris was sure that Lily had started to study for the N.E.W.T.s _now_.

But she didn't let herself focus on her sister's rigorous study habits for long. Instead, she listened to Wendy as she retold a story from her childhood.

"She had to be the most stuck up woman I have ever met," Wendy said. "I don't know how Uncle Ian put up with her." At the moment, Wendy was telling a story about her Aunt Delores. The woman sounded like a right old misery. The old witch sounded completely mad. And not in a good way.

As Wendy was finishing up telling a story of her mad aunt and the heated argument that she had with Wendy's mother a few years ago, there was a knock at the portrait.

People only paused at the noise for a moment but brushed it off after only a few milliseconds. They weren't sure who it was and were too immersed in their games and conversations to be pulled away by a knock at the door.

There was a knock once again. This time it was a tad bit more urgent and heavy. Iris rolled her eyes. She had a feeling that whoever was on the other side of the portrait hole wanted to get in as quickly as possible. She tore herself away from the couch that she shared with Lily and Marlene and sashayed towards the portrait hole. The annoying knocking continued to hit against the entrance to the common room.

"Alright, alright. Calm down!" She opened the door and was fully prepared to see a scared ikle-first year stuck outside after forgetting the password to the portrait. Though she most certainly wasn't expecting, or happy, to see the slimy-skinned Slytherin who had been acting completely strange since the beginning of the year.

Iris scowled at the boy who stood playing with the ends of his sleeves. "You shouldn't be here," she stated coldly.

Severus flinched at her frigid voice. "I-I just wanted to wish you and Lily a happy birthday-" he pulled out two vials(nearly identical to the ones he gave them at Christmas) from his pockets, "-and give you your gifts." He tried to flash her the most normal and reassuring smile he could muster. Though it did look a tad bit forced.

The redhead eyed the vials that he held out to her with a blank expression. She clicked her tongue unimpressed, "like we want your _gifts_." She knew that there was something wrong with the perfumes that Severus had been giving them. The migraines that she seemingly got since she had used it were completely suspicious. They have gotten better, however, ever once in a while she would get this itching sensation in the back of her head that drove her mad! She knew something was going on with Severus and the perfumes that he was giving her. She wasn't sure if Lily was suffering the same symptoms, but she could only hope that she wasn't.

Just as Severus was going to try and plead his case to her, a few others came over to see what the commotion was. When Iris hadn't come back to her seat on the couch to hear the rest of Wendy's riveting story about her delusional Aunt Delores, her friends were growing suspicious of her departure. So, as usual, Sirius decided to take it upon himself to go get her. He shouldn't have let her out of his sight, really. He's been all about making sure that his slimy, little brother doesn't get anywhere near his beloved redhead. Yet he just let her wander off towards the portrait hole on her own. He should have known better.

Seeing that Sirius had grown slightly worried about Iris, James tagged along as well. He wasn't gaining much attention from his own beautiful redhead who still continued to ignore him. So he decided to see where Iris had gone.

The moment Sirius and James came to the portrait hole and laid eyes on the black-haired Slytherin who had been the target of the Marauders pranks ever since they were in the first year, their eyes narrowed. Both of the boys came to stand on either side of Iris who was still glaring at the boy in front of her harshly and didn't bat an eye in their direction when she felt their presence behind her.

Severus gulped at their appearance and realized that his plan had gotten even harder than before. He would have tried to convince Iris to take the vials. Severus knew that the girl would have put up a fight and refused to take the vials, but he could have tried to wear her down slowly. Maybe he could have even approached Lily and tried to get her to sympathize with him… Even though she shouldn't seeing as his plans were far more nefarious than Lily would have ever thought. However, now with Sirius Black and James Potter by her side, she would outright throw him out in the corridor and ignore his pleas completely. He needed to get her to take this perfume! If she didn't take it who knows what would happen to him! Regulus and Lucius would be furious with him and no doubt curse him for not finishing the job… Merlin, things were getting more complicated for him, it seemed.

"Problem, love?" Sirius' cool voice asked as his steely glare pinned Severus into his spot.

"No," Iris said bluntly as she didn't pull her chocolate eyes from Severus' squirming form, "Severus was going."

Severus stuttered on his words as they got stuck in his throat. "I-Iris, please, I just want to-"

Iris' cheeks started to glow a bright ruby color as she bristled, "just get out, _Snape_!" Venom dripped from her lips as her eyes stabbed Severus' chest. "Nobody wants a _snake_ hanging around here."

Severus shook at her words. He knew that Iris had the capability of being scary and intimidating as he had seen her do it to other people. However, he never imagined that he would be on the receiving end of her wrath. Yet he knew that he deserved it. Whether she knew it or not… He most certainly deserved her fury

"I don't want to cause trouble-"

James laughed, "if you didn't want to cause trouble, then you wouldn't be here, Snivellus."

Severus bristled at the name, "now, listen here, Potter-"

Sirius was the one to cut him off this time, "just get out, Snape, before you upset us even further." With that said, Sirius pulled his wand out of his pocket subtly but not subtle enough. Severus' eyes instantly jumped to the wands held in not only his hand but James' and even Iris'.

He gulped, "fine." He slipped the perfumes back into his robe pockets. He straightened himself out and bit the inside of his cheek. "I'll go!"

Iris rolled her eyes at the boy and started to shoo him off with a wave of her hand. "Just get lost."

Severus flashed them one final fleeting look before turning around and meekly stalking his way down the corridor and into the shadows. The pale boy soon disappeared into the darkness that swallowed him like a large, silky duvet.

Iris watched her ex-friend disappear down the corridor with a sneer. Thoughts of how she would curse and hex the boy who was once her friend and who now constantly wouldn't leave her alone even though she made it clear she wanted him to swarm her head. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? Was she slightly overreacting to what had happened over a month ago on the train? Some may say she was. However, for it to nearly happen months ago and Severus tr not to apologize but instead give her perfumes was unacceptable in her mind. If he thought that giving her gifts(that she had a strong feeling we're not _just_ simple gifts) were going to make up for the fact that he didn't stand up for her when she had done it plenty of times in the past. It was absurd!

Sirius saw the flustered and angered look on her face and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Iris looked over her shoulder to allow her eyes to meet his stormy grey ones. She sighed out heavily through her nose and let his calming aura consume her. Yet she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was going on. Though she had a strong feeling that if something was going on that it was _bad_.

* * *

Iris listened to the crackling fire that rested in front of her. She bundled herself tightly her new Chudley Cannons jumper that she had gotten as a gift. She found herself reveling in the heat that not only the fireplace provided but also Sirius' arms. They found themselves in the normal position of Sirius' arms wrapped tightly around Iris' shoulders as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Both of them were quite tired due to the festivities that took place. It was actually later in the night, well, morning now. People had stayed up quite late after the party. The reason may have been because of the Firewhiskey that had _somehow_ snuck its way into the common room. Iris was more than happy to get a glass of the burning liquid to show off her wicked fire breathing abilities. However, Lily had been a complete party-pooper and took it upon herself to get rid of the drink before too many people could drink it. Iris didn't even get to drop of it! The only ones who did get to drink some of it were the few seventh years that Iris knew. It was no surprise that Frank Longbottom couldn't hold his liquor. His girlfriend, Alice, had to try and get him to go to bed before he embarrassed himself than he already had.

Though after the excitement with the firewhiskey, everything went back to normal. Around midnight, the last of the kids had gone upstairs for bed. At least, everyone but Sirius and Iris. They had spoken to each other quietly for about an hour before they grew quiet and just enjoyed each other's company. They honestly had _never_ been this close to anyone in their life! To just sit next to someone and be completely silent but still feel completely comfortable with them, was something they never thought that they would be able to feel so content with someone other than themselves.

Iris sighed deeply as he eyelids started to slide close slightly while her head slide down further on Sirius' shoulder. Said boy looked down at her as the corner of his lips turned up slightly. "Tired, love?"

The redhead hummed, "no." She stifled a yawn that crept up on her suddenly. "Okay, maybe a little." Sirius chuckled as he pulled Iris closer to him. They sat in silence for some time more.

Iris shifted herself to look up at Sirius. His face was illuminated by the soft light from the fireplace. _Merlin, this boy is handsome._ Iris' eyes widened at her inner thoughts that she was unable to control. Her face became flustered as she looked away from him which caused the boy to look at her.

His eyebrows were furrowed at her rosy cheeks, "you okay?"

"Hm? Oh," she coughed, "I'm fine, _fine_. Completely." It wasn't easy to get Iris flustered to the point where she blushed so blatantly. He wasn't sure _why_ she was blushing heavily, but he was thoroughly enjoying it. Time for some pay back it seemed.

"Are you sure, _love_?"

Iris jumped and sat up straight as Sirius leaned down towards her. She was fine with the close proximity of Sirius for the longest time. However, now it seemed like she was growing even more flustered as he tried to get closer to her.

"Darling, I am completely fine," she tried to push him away only for him to latch onto her waist. She squeaked as he pulled her down into hips lap with a chuckle. "Sirius!"

She couldn't help herself but laugh slightly at his behavior. Eventually, it turned into giggles when he started to bark out in amusement. They allowed themselves to be immersed in their moment of complete, undisturbed bliss. Iris finally regained control of her cheeks as they grew back to being pale. When they calmed down from their laughter, Iris snuggled into his chest once she felt confident enough that her rampant thoughts wouldn't wander off anywhere she didn't want.

"You're completely mad, you know that," Iris commented with a smile.

Sirius stared at her breathtaking beauty for a moment and allowed himself to take her in. He was still slightly bitter about the fact that Derek, that muggle boy, had _stolen_ a kiss from her. He couldn't necessarily blame her for the fact that the boy had practically thrown himself at her suddenly, but he still felt slightly betrayed to an extent.

However, he then allowed the bliss he was feeling with her in that moment consume him entirely. It washed over him like a calming wave that warned his entire body and tingles every nerve end in his body.

This moment was his and Iris'. Not _Derek's_. That thief wouldn't get to spend time with the redhead like he did. He got to see a different side of her every night as he allowed her in on a different side of him. The two of them may have only met a few months ago, however, the were far closer to each other than they were to anyone else, he would say. She was, at this point, his everything. Though he had yet to make that common knowledge to _everyone_.

With the thought of Iris being his own, Sirius didn't hesitate to lean down and place his lips on hers. Iris' eyes were blown wide open before she relaxed into his hold and placed a delicate hand onto the side of his face. Sirius tightened his hold on Iris' waist as their lips moved effortlessly together. They molded together perfectly like they were always meant to.

Yes, soon enough Sirius would make sure that everyone knew that Iris was his and his alone. Sure, some people already assumed that the two of them were off-limits by the way that they acted with each other. However, there was still the fact that they weren't… official.

They broke apart after an undetermined amount of time and breathed in heavily. This time, Sirius knew exactly why she was blushing so heavily. They smiled bashfully together as they leaned against each other. Sirius just needed to make the move that would ultimately seal the two troublemakers together for quite a long time. And he had a pretty good idea on how to.


	14. Valentine’s Day Date

**"OH, MERLIN!" IRIS EXCLAIMED OUT IN EXASPERATION** as she buried her head into her arms that rested on the table in front of her. She huffed out harshly and sat up in order to rub her temple in obvious annoyance.

"What?" Wendy asked as she looked up from her textbook with furrowed eyebrows.

The group of Gryffindor girls were all tucked into a cozy corner in the library in the school. Lily and Wendy had thought that it would be a good idea to spend their Saturday afternoon studying. It may only be February, but that didn't mean that it was too early to study for any tests and such coming up soon. Alice also decided to join the group for the day. Seeing as Frank had gone off with a few of their other friends, Alice was left to study. And what's better than studying with a couple of friends?

Amidst the girls reading their notes and writing on parchment, Iris had suddenly abandoned her Herbology textbook in favor of trying to calm down her raging headache. The light pounding sensation in the back of her skull was growing exponentially and distracting her immensely. It didn't matter if she wanted to actually take the time to study that day. The throb in the back of her head was preventing her from concentrating on one thing for more than a few minutes.

"My head is killing me," she hissed out in reply.

Lily spared her sister a glance for a moment by looking up from her own textbook and notes. "Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey, she'll have something to soothe your headache."

Iris scoffed, "that woman will blame me for having this bloody headache."

Alice stared at the younger girl with concern lacing her honey-kissed eyes heavily, "you've been complaining of headaches a lot, right?"

"I guess," she shrugged her shoulders.

Marlene nodded her head, "maybe it's allergies or something."

Iris gave her a blank expression before shaking her head in denial. "No, I'm not allergic to anything. It must be something else…"

Wendy placed a hand on Iris' shoulder while putting down her quill. "If you're not feeling well, maybe you should take a nap." She shot a look across that table at Lily who was about ready to interject at the idea. The other Evans girl deflated any argument she had when she was the look that Wendy was staring at her with. Wendy then flashed Iris a reassuring smile that egged her on to get some rest back in their dorm. "We can meet back up at dinner if you're up to it."

Iris weighed the options in her mind for a moment. It only took her a few seconds for her to agree to it. "That's fine with me!" There was obviously a clear winner between the two options. Choosing between either staying with the small group to be nagged by her sister and forced to study or go back to the dorm and get cozy in her own bed was a no brainer. She abruptly stood up from her seat which she regretted as soon as she did. She groaned slightly and swayed on her feet while steadying herself on the table. "Yeah, a nap is a really good idea."

Iris gathered her belongings and lazily stuffed them into her satchel and swinging onto her shoulder. She gave the group of studious girls a two finger salute and started to back out of the library. "Feel better, Iris!" Marlene called which earned her a glare and harsh 'shh' from the strict librarian, Madam Pince.

Iris trotted out of the library and sighed out heavily through her nose. Now she could breathe without inhaling that musky scent of ancient books that clung to every inch of the library. Though she was quite certain that the scent had latched itself onto her clothes. Taking a shower before she took a quick nap didn't seem like a bad idea.

She cringed suddenly and cradled her head as she slowly walked through the corridor. The hammering in the inside of her mind felt horrible! She was in desperate need of something to stop the pain. The idea of getting back to her dorm and laying down in her bed while Shadow curled up next to her underneath her heavy, warm blanket kept her from falling flat on her face due to the pain.

She didn't know what brought on these… headaches nearly every day. What she did know was that they were growing far more intense than when they first started which was just after they returned back to school from winter break. She had no idea what could have caused it to happen… but they also started around the time that her friends had first started to act strange around her.

As she was stuck in her head trying to distract herself from the pain as well as figure out where the pain was coming from, Iris barely registered the fact that her steps were growing sluggish. She stopped for a moment to steady herself on the stone wall of the corridor to collect herself. She huffed heavily through her nose and shut her eyes tightly. She opened them again only to groan. Her sight had grown blurry and focused on the most random of things around her. She pushed herself away from the wall and tried to walk straight only to stumble and trip on her feet.

"Whoa!" A sudden pair of arms caught her before she face-planted onto the stone. A chuckle broke through the chill February air in the corridor, "I knew you were falling for me, love."

Iris' foggy eyes tried their best to focus on the person who had so graciously stopped her from falling. She blinked her eyes multiple times and could now see a mass of shaggy black hair, stormy grey eyes and a smug smirk. The corners of her pale pink lips turned upward in a small smile that soon turned into a grimace.

"That was terrible, even for you." She did her best to tease him, however, there was a tenseness in her voice that made it quite obvious she was uncomfortable in some way.

Of course, Sirius noticed this and tightened his hold around her in order to straighten her properly. The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Iris obviously trying to keep her eyes in focus while Sirius was trying to find what was wrong with her. "Are you okay?"

Iris huffed, "I'm fine, only a little headache. Why do you keep asking that?" The two of them started to walk once again. This time, Iris used Sirius as a support as he guided her where she wanted. Her eyes, though still slightly unfocused, hardened as she glanced at him, "you ask me that every time you see me. What makes you think I'm not okay."

Sirius stared at her plainly, "because you are the epitome of 'okay' right now." He gestured to the fact that Iris was having trouble even standing up even though he was helping her do so. He sighed heavily and looked away from her as they walked in silence for a long moment. However, he couldn't help himself from glancing at her every once and a while as they slowly walked through the corridor. "I'm just worried is all, love."

Iris eyes finally cleared enough to focus on her surroundings. They flickered over to stare at the teenage boy's face. She couldn't help herself but smile slightly at his words. Her stomach started to flip at while her insides felt fuzzy. She nudged his shoulder with her own, "Sirius Black is worried about me? Whoa!" She teased, "don't I feel special!"

Sirius rolled his eyes and chuckled under his breath, "you should. Now, where are you headed off to?"

"The dorms." Iris simply answered, "I've got a terrible headache and the girls suggested taking a nap before dinner."

The boy's eyebrows furrowed, "oh, really?"

"Yeah," her nose scrunched up(adorably, Sirius mentally noted), "my head has been killing me for a while now… Marlene thought it was allergies or something-"

"It isn't though," the shaggy-haired teen instantly commented. He had learned a lot about Iris. He knows about every aspect of her personality, obviously, her likes and dislikes, and some small things like her allergies. Which was nothing, Iris wasn't allergic to anything. He knew that for certain. After their constant midnight rendezvous, the two of them knew just about everything about each other… Well, almost everything…

Iris nodded her head, "that's what I told them! Still, a nap may help with my head."

Sirius nodded his own head and hummed in agreement. "Sleep will definitely help."

They allowed each other to enjoy the others company as they waltzed together towards the Gryffindor tower. Sirius kept his arm wrapped around Iris' waist as she leaned into him. Whether he kept her close out of worry for her or just his desire to hold her close was slightly muddled in Sirius' mind. However, neither one of them complained about it.

* * *

Soon enough, their walk back to the Gryffindor common room had come to an end. That was something that Iris was grateful for. She knew that if she had to keep walking for even a few more seconds she would have collapsed! Hogwarts was a beautiful school, there was no doubt about that, however, it proved to be a hassle to have to get around in.

"Hippogriff," Sirius spoke the password to the fat lady who smiled at the two widely. The portrait door swung open and allowed Sirius to practically drag the redhead in.

Iris let out a satisfied sigh as she threw herself onto the first comfy place she could find which was the armchair right next to the fireplace. There was no fire licking at some brittle wood in the stone fireplace. It was too early for that at the moment. Besides the flames would have only worked against Iris and made her warmer. It was better that the fire was not lit.

There were a few other students in the common room. There was also no doubt a lot more up in their dorms. They just didn't have the privilege of having friends who forced them to be awake at the ungodly hours of a Saturday morning to study. The girls all gossiped with each other in the back corners of the rooms while the boys horsed around with each other. The noise only caused Iris' head to pound some more. However, she was far too lazy to move at that moment.

Despite Iris being in an uncomfortable state, Sirius couldn't help himself but chuckle at her position. He found it quite adorable how she was draped over the chair in exhaustion and she looked about ready to pass out in that spot. Though he didn't want her to be uncomfortable in the common room. He knew she would much rather be in her own bed.

"Come one, Iris," he walked over to her as her head lolled to the side.

She hummed, "just leave me here, it'll be fine." The pull of sleep was already pulling on her and she didn't feel like making the trek upstairs to her bed. Besides, she'd have to go to dinner anyway and staying downstairs insured that she would go instead of being in her dorm all night. Sleep would help with her headache and eating some food may do the same.

Sirius shook his head, "can't do that, love. You need to rest." He stood over the barely conscious teen and tried to pull her up.

She groaned in annoyance, "oh, leave me alone!"

"You're almost there, Iris. Just walk upstairs and you can get into your bed." The boy couldn't help himself but laugh at her reluctance to get up.

Iris huffed, "but I'm so comfortable here!"

"Yeah, but you'll have to deal with all these people down here."

She took a quick glance around the room to see all of the loud students. She knew that she could probably fall asleep with all the noise, as she could sleep through anything, however, she would much rather be alone right now. She pouted and looked up at Sirius through her long lashes. She reached out to him, "take me up there then!"

Sirius barked out in laughter, "you know that I can't get up those stairs, love."

Iris groaned, "but it's too far!"

The teenage boy contemplated his next move. Getting Iris upstairs was going to be a challenge… However, an idea popped into his head. "Tell you what," Sirius smirked, "you get up there yourself, you might get something in return."

Iris perked up slightly, "what do I get?"

"Well, tomorrow is Valentine's Day…" He trailed off and kept the smirk on his face prominent. However, he was just about eating himself from the inside out. A certain feeling bubbled up in his stomach and began to corrode his body, oddly, starting with his heart. It seemed like only Iris' answer could either halt the corrosive feeling of worry from killing Sirius on the spot or make it worse. He gnawed at the inside of his cheek and waited impatiently for her to speak.

Her foggy mind had taken a second to try and comprehend what he was trying to say. Though, to her confusion, her own stomach had started to feel fuzzy and slightly queasy. She couldn't really place the feeling at that moment but decided to push it away to think about later. "Okay…"

Sirius licked his lips, "well, I think, taking you out to Hogsmeade tomorrow will definitely give you a reason to get better."

Iris stared at him with big eyes as her irises flashed quickly with surprise. She opened and closed her mouth a few times as if she was mimicking a fish. This wasn't the first time that she had been asked out. She couldn't count the number of times someone had stammered out the infamous question: "Do you want to go on a date with me?" The redhead had heard the question as if it was a broken record ever since she was about twelve. Much to their dismay, Iris almost always turned them down. She had rarely said yes to anyone.

However, when she was twelve, she went on her first date. A French boy had asked her out in their second year, and she couldn't say no to him. Long story short, Iris had vowed never to go on a date again. It was in no way an enjoyable experience for her which swayed Iris from ever thinking about going on a date with anyone in her future, ever. Now that didn't mean she couldn't tease the boys like she usually does. She gained too much entertainment from doing that to just give it up!

Yet, even though Sirius didn't say those exact words, Iris was completely flustered at what he said. No matter who had asked her out, she was always able to turn them down in a heartbeat. Now with Sirius… she was genuinely considering agreeing with his terms.

"You think so?" She questioned with her eyebrow raised.

The teenage boy gulped and slowly nodded his head. The anxiety that was slowly pooling in the bottom of his stomach was slowly starting to bubble even further under Iris' gaze. He cleared his throat, "yeah."

Iris tapped her chin in contemplation, "some fresh air would be good tomorrow…"

"And who better to spend time with on Valentine's Day than me," Sirius purred as he tried to keep his confident demeanor.

The girl chuckled lightly and tried to stand up without falling onto the floor. She needed a little bit of help from Sirius stabilizing herself once she was on her feet but other than that she was okay. "All right, I'll bite. Tomorrow, Hogsmeade." The two started to make their way towards the stairs that lead up to the girl's dorms. She turned around to face him while biting her lip and leaning up to whisper in his ear, "And just to let you know… I don't like being disappointed, darling."

Sirius' heartbeat became erratic as he was certain this girl was going to give him a heart attack. He composed himself the best he could, "I can promise you that you certainly won't be disappointed, love."

Iris flashed him a fleeting smirk before she slowly walked upstairs to the dorm. She ascended the stairs and left the giddy boy at the bottom who was just about bursting with excitement. His smirk was wide as he turned on his heels towards the portrait hole. He couldn't wait to tell his friends that he had gotten a date with Iris Evans.

Upstairs in her dorm, Iris was finishing up changing her clothes into something more comfortable to sleep in for a few hours. The joyous feeling in her chest was not going away any time soon, she knew. She actually wasn't sure if she would be able to go to sleep now that she was fueled by her interaction with Sirius. She hopped into her bed as Shadow came over to her and rested right next to her. She ran her hand through his fur as the thoughts of what she was going to do tomorrow with Sirius ran rampant in her mind. She allowed herself to slowly fall asleep to those thoughts as she could feel herself getting better already.

* * *

Lily groaned as she had half the mind to start banging her head against the dinner table in complete annoyance. The insufferable James Potter, in her words, was smirking widely right next to her in the Great Hall. She was so hoping on not seeing the teen at all that day. Well, really she was hoping to not see him at all that weekend. Tomorrow was Valentine's Day and she was all too aware with how he acted around this time. She had already suffered quite a lot of pestering from James the other day in Charms. However, no matter how many times he asked, she would always say no!

"Oh, come on, Lily!" James exclaimed with a pout, "just one date!"

The redhead rolled her eyes, "no, Potter! How many times do I have to say it?!"

"Until you say yes."

His cocky reply caused the frustrated girl to huff loudly and turn away from him. She was faced with a smirk that looked almost identical to her own. Though the differing brown eyes that gazed at her in amusement shined in the candlelight. "Oh, lighten up, Lil," Iris commented as she started to shovel some mash potatoes onto her plate.

"Shut up, Iris!" Lily grumbled as she took a gulp from her goblet. "That infuriating boy needs to stop pestering me over something that will never happen."

Iris raised an eyebrow with a laugh, "never say never."

The seat besides Lily and Iris were then taken by their friends, Marlene and Wendy, who were babbling about something random for the night. The twins were both certain that the two had gone off to ogle at some boys by the Black Lake or something. Marlene and Wendy had gone off on their own while Lily had to get Iris. Lily had gone to get Iris from their dorm and found her napping pleasantly in her bed with her cat. She didn't really want to wake up her sister, however, she knew that Iris would need to eat something for the night. She would also be chewed out in the morning when Iris woke up to find out that she missed a meal.

Of course, the Marauders had obviously arrived for dinner on time. Hell would have frozen over if they were even a few minutes late for something like food. To Lily's dismay, James had sat right next to his self-proclaimed lady-love as Sirius hopped into the seat next to his own redhead. As soon as he sat down, James had been bothering Lily with the same proposal he had been making ever since their first year. And Lily still said 'no' every time.

"Oh," Lily commented, "'never say never', all right, so when are you and your boyfriend going on a date, Iris?" She tried to turn the tables on her sister in order to get back at her. Iris had been denying all year about her not being interested in Sirius at all. If she could find any way to ease her own pain with James, it would be teasing Iris about her relationship with Sirius. She just knew that Iris would be annoyed with her statement which caused her to smirk widely in satisfaction.

Iris didn't rise to the bait and just smirked as she grabbed her goblet and took a sip, indifferent to Lily's teasing. "Tomorrow."

Lily stared at her with wide eyes as her jaw just about hit the table. She really wasn't expecting that. James was also surprised as he choked on his food for a moment and had to be saved by Remus. Sirius tried to look just as passive as Iris though he didn't succeed as well as her. He was just able to stop himself from growing outwardly flustered and blushing and decided to substitute it with a sly smirk. Wendy and Marlene were just about holding onto the excitement that was bubbling up in their chests and giggles that wanted to bust out of their mouths. And, as always, Peter was out of place next to Sirius and didn't know how to react fully. Merlin, that boy is was clueless most of the time.

"Wh-what!?" Lily was able to sputter out through her shock.

Iris just turned to her in confusion though there was playfulness dancing in her eyes. "I answered your question, sister dearest, what's surprising about that?"

Lily just stared at her before turning to Marlene next to her. The brunette was also speechless and staring at Iris with excitement burning in her chest. Unlike Lily, both Marlene and Wendy had been waiting for such a long time to see some sort of progression in their relationship. Whether it was Sirius who made the first move or Iris(which seemed to be more likely) didn't matter! The two of them were holding their breath on the subject and it seemed now they could finally breathe. "Did she say tomorrow?" Marlene could only nod her head dumbly. Lily turned back to her sister and the shaggy-hair boy next to her. She pointed between the two of them, "you're going on a date tomorrow!?"

"Did you really think that Iris would be able to resist me for so long?" Sirius asked arrogantly while running a hand through his hair.

Iris tsked, "you are so full of yourself, you know that."

"Which is exactly why you said yes to the date, love."

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that."

"You're right. I'm sure it's because you-"

"Okay!" Remus cut in, "whoa! Great, I'm so glad that you two are finally going out, but can you leave the flirting for your date."

Iris and Sirius shared a glance and smirk with each other before shrugging their shoulders. "Fine, fine," they both chuckled.

With the flirting stopped for the moment and the group barely getting over their shock about the troublemaker's date, they all dug into their dinner. Of course, Lily kept stealing weird glances at her sister and Sirius. She shouldn't be surprised by the fact that they were going on a date, honestly. She knew that the two would get together at some point. However, she was just… baffled that it happened so suddenly. She knew that Iris loved messing with boys and such, yet she was almost always against going on a date. That was why she teased her so much because she knew that Iris would never agree to go on a date. Well, she thought. Apparently, Iris had been whittled down by the troublesome boy. Lily could only shake her head and eat her dinner as Marlene and Wendy tried to engage her into a conversation about tomorrow. Merlin, the two of them were certain that the three of them would follow Sirius and Iris on their date. However, Lily really didn't want to see what those two got up to.

* * *

Iris waited patiently in the front courtyard of the school. She bundled herself up in her orange and red jumper with her hands tucked tightly in her pockets. Her pale hands were like blocks of ice! She should really think about investing in some mittens. She brushed her short hair out of her eyes as the chilly wind blew it in her face. Iris had been waiting for only a few moments for Sirius to show up.

Before the two had gone to bed, they had agreed to meet up in front of the school and head down to the carriages together. Of course, Lily, Wendy, Marlene, and Alice(and Frank who Alice dragged along) had wanted to wait with Iris too. Though Iris was able to tell that they only wanted to be there to eavesdrop on their date as much as they could, so she sent them away. The group had grumbled and muttered to themselves about the girl but obeyed her and headed down to the carriages. She had no doubt that they would try to follow them around along with the Marauders. Merlin, today was going to be an interesting day.

"Hope you weren't waiting long!" A voice dragged Iris out of her thoughts. She whipped her head around to come face with Sirius Black. He came running over to her with a large smile plastered on his face. If Iris didn't know any better, it almost looked like the boy had just run down to open his Christmas presents. His eyes were lit with an emotion that Iris could only describe as ecstatic. It, surprisingly, warmed her heart to see him so joyful. Even more so that she knew he was happy about going on a date with her. Iris knew that she had a strong effect on the boy, however, seeing it so openly with her own eyes was so strange.

She smiled at him, "not long, had to get the girls to leave me alone." she shrugged her shoulders.

"The boys were the same," Sirius commented as he swung his arm over her shoulders and started to lead her to where they could catch a carriage down to Hogsmeade. "Just a warning, I think that they may follow us around today."

Iris scoffed, "great."

The two of them jumped up into a carriage being pulled by thin air that instantly pulled away from the school. The two of them chatted idly with each other on the ride down there. They complained about school, annoying first years, and the detentions they had gotten. Ultimately, in that short ride down the hill, the two of them acted no different than they already had been. Being alone with each other was in no way new to them. The awkwardness that usually comes with a first date was not there between the two. They were so comfortable with each other that there was no ounce of uncomfortableness in the air.

They made it to Hogsmeade in no time! Sirius, being the gentleman he was, helped Iris down the carriage and wrapped his arm around her waist. "So where to first, love?"

Iris hummed, "not sure, darling. How about Honeydukes!"

He smiled down at her as they started their trek through the bustling village. They earned a variety of different stares following them as they made their way to the sweet shop. Specifically, there were nearly a dozen of eyes watching the two of them walk closely. The Marauders followed the two towards the shop underneath James' invisibility cloak while the girls, plus Alice and Frank, followed the couple at a safe distance. Both groups were determined to get a close look in on the date considering this was the first date that either of them had gone on in a long time. Even if Lily was reluctant to do it, but her curiosity did get the better of her.

Iris and Sirius browsed some treats and bought a couple before leaving the shop and heading to the three broomsticks. All the while, they were conversing happily with each other. Each of them threw jokes at each other while also flirting as much as they can in order to fluster the other completely. Of course, Sirius stuck to his idea of flustering her through physical touch while Iris stuck to her words. Either way, the two had succeeded in flustering the other immensely.

They ordered their drinks and grabbed a seat in the far corner of the pub away from the other patrons. They shared laughs with each other, flirted as much as they could and, overall, enjoyed each other company as usual. Though as Sirius and Iris were tucked away in the corner booth, their friends were all watching them intently from across the room. However, what they didn't know at that point was that Iris had taken notice of her friends and sister's squeals from across the room. She also could hear the Marauders groans every time they did something 'lovey dovey'. Ultimately, she knew that the two groups were there to follow her and Sirius around. Seeing this, Iris leaned up to Sirius' ear, "I have a feeling we're being followed right now."

Sirius dared to take a quick glance up to find that she was right. He smirked lightly and turned back down to her with mischief in his grey eyes. "Do you think we can outrun them?"

"Oh, I'm sure of it!"

With that, the two of them casually stood up from their seats after finishing off their drinks and heading for the exit. Of course, as expected, their friends' eyes were glued to them as they also started to make their way for the exit. Yet once the door was open and a cold wind greeted the couple's skin, they took off running.

The two of them laughed hysterically as they dodged through bystanders and darted around corners. They were able to hear the sounds of Iris' sister and Sirius' best friend shouts of displeasure in either losing sight of the two or seeing that the both of them were following Iris and Sirius.

Iris laughed loudly as they slowly came to a slow walk after they were certain that they had lost the group of stalkers. She hung onto Sirius as he too was laughing uncontrollably. This date had truly been completely fun for both of them.

Sirius gazed at Iris' red face as she tried to calm herself down. The ruby hue of her blush licked across both of her cheeks and up the bridge of her nose while her unruly hair hung in her warm brown eyes. She looks so beautiful, Sirius couldn't help himself but think that. She was the epitome of beauty to Sirius. He had seen many beautiful girls while at school and such, however, none of them compared to Iris Evans.

Iris finally reigned in her laughter and surveyed their surroundings. The two had run straight out of the village and out into the surrounding forest. It was far calmer out there than in Hogsmeade. The wind rustled the branches of the large trees that seemingly caged them in and the leaves from those trees rained down from above. The clearing that they were in has a perfect view of Hogwarts up on top of its hill. Iris smiled widely at the view of the beautiful castle as she became giddy at the sight.

Sirius smiled as he saw the whimsical look take over his ladylove's face and wrapped an arm around her waist. He drew her into his side and enjoyed the feeling of her pressed up against him. "Besides being followed around for a bit, today was really nice."

"Yeah," Iris smiled and buried herself closer to Sirius, "it was great, darling. I would have no problem with doing this again."

Sirius' smile widened as giddiness swarmed his stomach. The prospect of another date like this with Iris was extremely exciting for him. Yeah, the two of them spend quite a lot of time together(more now than ever because he is wary of those Slytherins cornering her without him being there) and know quite a lot about each other. However, they never agreed that they were more than just friends.

They did things that more than friends would. They spent an extensive amount of time together, confided in each other nearly every night and listened to each other's problems. Merlin, they've kissed at least twice! That certainly isn't something that "just friends" do. If they had another date… and that one leads to another and so on… Sirius really was looking forward to what may come of this.

Iris felt the same. Compared to the last date she had gone on years ago, Sirius had certainly helped improve her outlook on them. She really likes the fuzzy feeling that fluttered in her chest while they were talking, and she certainly likes the intimacy that they had while on the date. She wanted to do this again, really soon.

Just as the two were reveling in their feeling for each other, a pair of cold eyes watched them with nothing short of disgust burning brightly in the forest. A sneer pulled back a pair of pale pink lips to reveal white teeth while a growl bubbled up from the back of their throat in repugnance. Their shiny black shoes crunched the fallen leaves which drew the couple's attention and shattered their moment instantly.

Sirius and Iris were faced with someone they had been avoiding for weeks and who they thought had decided to leave them alone. Sirius' eyes twitched as he made sure to keep himself between Iris and his brother. "What do you want, Regulus?"

The slightly younger boy licked his lips and shrugged his shoulders, indifferent. "Nothing, brother. I was only taking a walk in the woods when I come upon you two practically snogging out here." He slowly walked closer to them and loved seeing the way that Sirius tried to keep him away from his little mudblood. The thought that Sirius thought he could protect his precious Iris was laughable when Regulus already knew Sirius couldn't stop him. "Honestly, Sirius, your choice in venue is downgrading just like your choice in girls."

Sirius growled loudly at that, "what did you just say!"

"It also seems like you've been avoiding me." Regulus continued on as if Sirius didn't just shout at him. He kept his demeanor passive and unaffected as he kept his eyes on the redhead behind his brother. "Though not only you, so has our dear Iris. Isn't that right?"

"Just leave us be, Regulus!" Sirius exclaimed, "don't you have some poor first years to boss around and torment."

Regulus shook his head in amusement, "I find bothering you, brother, far more entertaining." His eyes did not falter from the surprisingly silent Iris. She stared back at him, however, just like a few weeks ago, her eyes lacked the fire they usually had. Her mind was dampened slightly as she couldn't tear her gaze from his. She tried, honestly. Yet there was something in her that just… wouldn't let her look away. "I'm sure Iris has no objection to my presence, right?"

Sirius turned to the quiet girl and noticed her demeanor, "Iris?"

Her expression seemed confused and conflicted like there were two opposing sides battling in her head over what to say. Her mouth opened a few times as if searching for the right words.

"Why don't you just leave," Sirius starts turning back to his brother after seeing Iris wasn't going to say anything. He glowered at the shit-eating grin on his younger brother, "before I do something that I won't regret."

Regulus raised an eyebrow and tsked, "no worry, Sirius. I'll leave you and your little… muggle-born to yourselves." With a mocking smile, Regulus spun on his heels and stalked away. He knew that he had left Sirius fuming with the fact that he had just referred to Iris as specifically a muggle-born. He knew that if he had said 'mudblood' Sirius would have lashed out immediately. So he kept it tame… for the time being.

Sirius watched the back of Regulus as he disappeared back in the direction of the village. As soon as he was certain that Regulus wasn't coming back, Sirius rounded on Iris who still appeared conflicted. He studied her closely for a moment. She looked almost completely void, just like the last time Regulus and Lucius had spoken to them a few weeks ago. She was just as quiet and seemingly submissive.

"Iris?" Sirius asked softly, "love?" He placed a gentle hand on her cheek while caressing it softly to get her attention.

The world finally came back into focus for Iris who snapped back to reality. Her eyes sought out Sirius when she heard her name slip off of his lips. Stormy grey met warm brown once Iris found Sirius face right in front of hers. Her eyebrows furrowed, "Sirius…?"

Sirius sighed heavily through his nose, "are you all right?" The worry that was etched on his handsome features didn't go unnoticed by Iris.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" She couldn't help herself from rubbing her temple. "Completely fine."

Sirius eyed her closely and had a feeling that she wasn't telling the truth. With concern gnawing at his chest, Sirius pulled Iris close to him. Iris yelped as he hugged her and just about squeaked when Sirius pulled her back slightly only to pulled her back in for a heated kiss. She melted into it quickly and embraced him. Her cold hands ran up into his hair and tugged on it lightly while Sirius' gripped her hips tightly. Despite the cold weather, both teens were easily growing warm at the close and heated embrace. After what seemed like an eternity, the need for air became too great which caused the two to pull away from the kiss.

Iris looked up at him with half-lidded eyes, "I'm certainly fine now."

Sirius couldn't help himself but smirk at her words and chuckle, "so am I." He rested his forehead against hers and inhaled the lavender and vanilla clinging to her body. He bit his lip as the thoughts of how Iris had reacted to his brother. He honestly didn't know what was going on… but he hoped that it wouldn't hurt Iris. He really hoped no harm would come to the girl he was slowly coming to care immensely about.

"We should head back," Iris commented in a whisper as if she was afraid to ruin the moment. "It's getting late."

Sirius nodded his head, "all right." He squeezed her hips once more before letting her go and wrapping his arm around her shoulder and starting to lead her back to the village. He really just wanted to get her back to the castle to make sure that she really was okay before telling the others about their confrontation with Regulus. Something serious was going on, and he was going to get to the bottom of whatever it is that his brother and the other slimy snakes were doing to his Iris.


	15. Full Moon Adventures

**A/N: Welcome to the new decade everyone!! Seeing as it's the new year, I saw it appropriate to do multiple updates.**

* * *

**THE CONCERN THAT RADIATED OFF OF EVERY** one of Iris' friends was suffocating her to no end. She felt like she couldn't breathe without choking on someone's worry. It had only been a week since her date with Sirius and her friends had grown to be even more suspicious of her. She was never alone anymore no matter what! All of her friends had seemed to take it onto themselves to become her personal bodyguards. What they were guarding her against, she wasn't sure. However, she had a feeling that it had to do with those slimy snakes. She knew that there was something completely off with them, at least, more than usual.

She felt so… strange around them, and it was in no way a good strange. The feeling of… well, she couldn't really describe the feeling all that well. Perhaps the best way to describe it was that she had an obligation. For some odd reason, she felt like she had to _do_ something for them. She didn't know what… but that she just had to do it.

Now that may cause a few red flags to pop up for _anyone_ to tell a teacher or something. However, this is Iris we're talking about! Her pride was far too large for her to admit that she couldn't handle something like this. It was only three little snakes who wanted to intimidate her. She could handle them! She'd much rather drown in the Black Lake before she said that she needed help against the likes of Regulus Black, Lucius Malfoy, and Severus Snape.

There was also a small thought that nagged in the back of her head. She obviously wouldn't admit to it out loud due to her precious pride, however, the thought was still ever present. If she did go to get help from a faculty member or someone and told them exactly what was going on, then they would investigate what was happening to her. When they did that and it did lead back to those snakes… then they would get into trouble. Now, she is all for getting those gits into trouble and punishing them, yet that would also mean that Severus would get into trouble.

She was angry with him, yes. But there was still a small part of her that didn't want to get him in trouble. Whatever part that he may play in their _scheme_ was somewhat unknown to her, but she didn't want him to get in trouble for it, truly. He may have not stood up for her a few months ago, but it would take a bit more than that to unravel the years of friendship that the two had between them. She could not forgive him completely, but she didn't want him to get punished along with them. He was still that annoying brother that she never wanted yet needed. She didn't want to sound like too much of a sap, but she would definitely regret letting their relationship crumble.

But besides her conflict with the Slytherins, the bad feeling with Regulus and Lucius, and her friends' concern intensifying, the past week had been quite uneventful. She had her normal classes with the occasional prank here or there with detention every once and awhile. She was still trying to enjoy the school year as Lily was forcing her to count down the days until they took the O.W.L. Lily had tried to get Iris to go to the library nearly every free period and night to study everything! Iris had certainly gotten her fair share of time in the library for the rest of her life.

At the moment, she was relaxing in the Gryffindor common room. She was reclined on the couch bundled up in a nice jumper with the fire lit in front of her. The redhead basked in the heat in content. Iris was happy to spend some time by herself. Sirius wasn't going to be spending time with her that night as he had told her that he was spending time with the other boys. Every once in a while, Sirius would spend one night with the Marauders and do… Merlin knows what. She didn't know what they could possibly be doing at night and she honestly didn't really _want_ to know. What they got up to without her isn't her business.

"_Merlin_," Iris whipped around at the sharp yelp coming from behind her. She suspected that someone else had also decided to sneak down into the common room for the night. However, when she turned around to see who was behind her… there was no one there. Her eyebrows furrowed as she surveyed the room in its entirety. There was no sign of anyone being in the room with her at all. That fact was slightly unsettling for her. Though she brushed it off and thought that it was just her mind playing tricks on her. She did have an overactive imagination sometimes, despite being a teenager now.

Unknown to her, James and Sirius had their hands slapped over Peter's mouth as they tried to stand as still as they could. The poor bloke had accidentally stubbed his foot and cried out in pain. Of course, since Iris wasn't supposed to know that they were sneaking around after dark, they had to keep as quiet as they could. Silently, the trio watched as her narrowed eyes skimmed over their invisible forms before turning back around on the couch to get comfy again.

They all mentally sighed in relief before waiting a moment longer to start moving once again. They shuffled as quietly as they could across the carpet and watched Iris with careful eyes to make sure that she wouldn't notice them at all. To their delight, they made it to the portrait hole to finally leave the common room. The three of them slipped out of the room without any further accidents at all. Though they seemed to forget that Iris was quite the observant person.

The redhead listened to the almost silent click of the portrait hole swinging shut. She waited a moment more before jumping up onto her feet and making her way towards the exit. Iris waited a moment and listened through the painting to see what she could hear. There were some hushed voices speaking quickly together that slowly died down, from walking away from the door, Iris thought.

After waiting to make sure that whoever had left wouldn't see or hear her, Iris swung the door opened as quietly as she could and hoped out of the room. She checked both ends of the hallway to catch a glimpse of whoever had left and was able to see someone dashing around the far right corner. She could also hear the slight scolding voices that reminded her of some of her best friends.

Though she shouldn't be surprised! The Marauders were known for their pranks and they have to set them up the night before, so she should have suspected that it was them sneaking out. The question was though: Why did they _sneak_ past _her_? She would think that after all this time, all the pranks that they have played together, the boys would have included her on most, if not all, of their pranks. Well, she'll just have to ask them about that as soon as she found out what exactly they were doing.

* * *

The journey through the castle for the boys was smooth. Despite the hiccup with Peter in the common room and almost getting caught by Iris, their journey was smooth. They didn't run into any teachers or prefects looking for troublemaking students like themselves. There wasn't much of a need for the invisibility cloak that night which is why they decided to not use it as they approached the archway that leads to the outdoors.

Unbeknownst to the three of them, their mischievous redheaded friend was following them at a distance as she kept to the shadows. Her sharp brown eyes were narrowed as she watched the trio leave the school and start trotting down a path leading away from the school. It was midnight, she knew that, and was unsure if it would be completely safe for them to be outside. Especially if they were heading close to the forbidden forest. Now she was all for getting into dangerous and exhilarating situations, however, she can kind of draw the line when there are too many factors playing against her.

It was dark. Pitch blackness blanketed the grounds and caused a chill to take over every inch of the school grounds. If the boys were going outside on their own, it most certainly is a recipe for disaster, in Iris' mind. And not the kind of disaster that they usually were the cause of because of their pranks.

She followed them stealthily through the cover of the shadows. Her curiosity was obviously getting the better of her. Iris was certain that she would come to regret staying up this late, but she thought that it would be worth it in the end. To see what exactly the boys were getting up to would be ideal. She also couldn't help but notice that Remus wasn't with them. That was completely unusual. That boy was usually there alongside the others, either partaking in the scheme reluctantly or trying to stop them from doing anything too rash.

The bright white moon that hung in the air stared down at them all and most likely scolding them all silently for being under its illuminating gaze. The trio of boys and their red-haired stalker walked for a while before they made it quite a ways away from the castle. Iris pressed herself up against a tree in order to make sure that the boys didn't see her as they started to walk out into a clearing. She was running out of places to hide now that they were out there and feared that she would lose sight of them.

However, what she didn't suspect was for the boys to head over to the Whomping Willow. The enormous tree loomed in the moonlight. It's branches ached and moved on its own as the tree itself was a living entity. No one would ever dare get close to the tree… well, besides the occasional first year who would be dared to see how close they could actually get. Every time that ended with the dared students taking a trip to Madam Pomfrey to get their bones mended.

Yet Iris didn't really know _why_ the boys were headed right towards it. She was starting to become slightly worried over the fact that the boys may get hurt. _What in Merlin's name are they doing?_ She asked herself but obviously didn't get an answer.

She could see that they were talking with each other, but she couldn't hear them in the slightest. "Just hurry up, Peter!" She was unable to hear James urge Peter.

Iris was able to see the meek, chubby teen nodded his head rapidly and take a quick breath before facing the tree. Anxiety pooled in her stomach as she watched her friend get closer to the restless tree. In turn, the tree noticed the plump boy's presence and was getting ready to strike him.

The redhead was just about ready to reveal herself and run over to them to stop Peter before he could get himself killed. Though the next things that happened caused Iris to freeze in her spot and stopping her from revealing herself.

The boy's body started to twitch as fur started to sprout on his skin. His mouse-like features started to become more prominent as his arms and legs started to reshape themselves into something completely different. His figure grew smaller and smaller until he was the size of a rat. Actually, as Iris squinted her eyes to see where her friend had gone, she was certain that Peter had transformed into a _rat_.

_He's an animagus. Oh, Merlin, He's an animagus!_

Iris was completely astonished by that fact. A friend that she had known for some time was keeping quite a large secret from her. Her wide eyes were glued to that rat that scurried across the grass and was in no way noticed by the Whomping Willow. The rodent got closer to the tree and hopped onto its trunk. It seemed to press a part of the tree that instantly froze the entire tree itself. Iris had never seen anything like that before. She may have been attending Hogwarts for a few months, however, she had never seen that tree be so still before.

Just as she was trying to calm her shock down from finding out that Peter Pettigrew was an animagus, the girl just about had a heart attack due to her shock to what happened next. Both Sirius' and James' bodies started to contort in the same manner as Peter's had, however, they began to transform in two different animals than Peter. Sirius landed on all fours and thick black fur consumed his entire body as he became a large black dog. James also landed on all fours but his arms and legs grew longer as did his neck as he became a stag.

Iris' jaw had hit the ground as she watched her friends, now in animagus forms, trot under the immobile tree and into an opening at its base. A few moments passed before Iris was able to collect her wits. She walked away from the tree she previously had been hiding behind and stumble into the clearing.

She wearily watched the Whopping Willow as it started to move once again. She knew then that if she tried to approach it... it would lash out at her like it usually did. Whatever Peter had done to it had worn off…

Animaguses! The boys were animaguses! That was why they disappeared once a night every month. But why keep it from _her_?

_Hypocrite. _Her mind scolded her. Yeah, she really was being a big hypocrite. Why was she wondering why they were keeping a secret about themselves from her when she was doing the same? She really needed to think things through.

Though, now that she thought about it… a smirk crawled onto her face as she started to scheme. She's certainly going to have fun with this.

* * *

The group of animaguses emerged from the entrance of the Whomping Willow. The stag and dog climbed out of the opening at the trunk of the tree as the rat rode on the tanned stag's back. As normal, the three of them all lead the large creature that followed after them at a leisurely pace. They emerged into the bright light of the moon and they all basked in its alluring glare.

Sirius barked happily and started to trot away happily towards the forbidden forest. James and Peter followed behind as Remus came out as well and stared at the large moon in the sky. He howled loudly before taking off towards the forest. The other three animals all glanced at each other. Remus had never acted like that when they came out. For the most part, he tended to be calm and quiet while every once in a while running off towards something like another animal. They weren't sure what to think of that.

They made sure to keep a closer eye of their wolfed out friend just in case they ran into some student sneaking out like they were. The group has had some close calls with running into other students. As Remus in his werewolf form tends to go after human beings, they have had to come up with some creative ways to make sure that nobody was hurt and their escapades were not discovered.

The group entered the forest and began to venture in at a quick pace. Remus led the group at the front while the rest followed closely behind. It was a few minutes of walking that Remus suddenly stopped in his tracks. He started to sniff the air and spun around in his spot for a moment as if looking for something.

Worry started to bubble up in the three of the animals as they thought Remus had caught the scent of a human. Sirius sniffed as well to be certain what may have caught Remus' attention. He was able to smell the earthy scent surrounding them as well as the many magical plants that were all over the place. Though he sniffed again, he was able to pick up something that seemed… out of place in the forest.

It was a strong scent of vanilla. He tilted his head at the smell as his eyes scoured for the source of the smell. It seemed that James and Peter may have caught up on it as well as they too started to look around in confusion. They started to walk in the direction of where the smell was coming from and came to the edge of the forest where a small pond rested.

There in the clearing at the edge of the water stood a petite red, white and black fox. The fox's head snapped in their direction and tilted its head at them. Every single one of them was wary of the other. The fox's attention seemed to be mainly on the werewolf that was a tad bit bolder and started to approach it. The fox was frozen in its spot as Remus started to get closer to it.

Remus bent down to the ground to get a better look at it. It wasn't uncommon for the group to run into other animals in the forest, but they had never come upon a _fox_. Are foxes even native to the forbidden forest? Neither of the three boys were completely sure. The only one that most likely would be was currently wolfed out and sniffing the fox.

The wolf seemed to grow curious about the other animal's appearance and strange smell before growling deeply at it. It wasn't a noise to intimidate the smaller animal, it was more like a greeting. The fox jumped at the noise in fright and whined slightly. At the sight of the poor animal growing scared of their friend, James, Peter, and Sirius approached the duo slowly in order to not frighten either of them.

Sirius approached the fox slowly as James and Peter, still on James' back, walked towards Remus to put themselves between the fox and wolf. The fox shrunk back slightly as the larger dog approached it. Sirius bowed his head to show that he didn't want to hurt the poor animal. Since they had become animaguses, the boys had grown to learn about animal ques and interactions. They knew that they needed to show that they meant no harm in order to gain its trust and warn it to go away in case Remus lashed out against the poor creature.

The fox eyed Sirius closely and seemed to become somewhat more confident as he placed a barrier between himself and Remus. He knew that seeing Remus in that form was quite terrifying for a human, he wasn't sure how it was for an animal that hadn't seen him before. The fox took a timid step toward the large dog and nudged its nose toward him. Sirius allowed the fox to look at him closer and sniff him.

The fox eventually grew bolder quite quickly and walked closer to Sirius. He was able to see her fur closer and had to admit that it looked quite soft. Most of the animal's body was a rich scarlet with its paws a pitch black and a patch of white reaching from the bottom of its snout and down its chest. Its ears were perked up as if listening to everything that was around it. The animal was alert and seemed to be ready to dash if something went wrong.

The fox started to investigate Sirius further and walked around the dog. It's luscious tail brushed up against Sirius snout on purpose. The dog barked at that and watched as the slender fox trotted away from him slowly. The smaller animal looked up at James with Peter still perched on his back.

The stag and rat looked at the animal in curiosity. The fox walked around them as well and stared at them with wide eyes. After a moment of investigation, the fox came to a stop in front of Remus. The large wolf leaned down on his front paws and tried to brush his snout against the fox. Surprised, and most likely frightened, the animal backed up and away from Remus. That only earned a growl from Remus which scared the fox even more. James walked over to the pair and tried to separate them again to defuse any sort of tension. However, he wasn't expecting the fox to look at him and shake its head.

James stared at the fox in confusion. Most animals would have run off at this point, well, they more likely would have run off at the mere sight of Remus. Yet this fox didn't seem to want to run off. It was scared, yes. However, it didn't seem to want to run off. James backed off slightly and allowed the fox to approach Remus again.

Remus sniffed the small animal and the fox did the same. They appeared to be sizing each other up and getting used to each other. There was a long moment of the duo staring at each other and moving around each other before Remus growled loudly at the fox. Now, it wasn't a growl that meant any sort of harm, if anything it was playful!

The fox yelped happily and jumped up and down excitedly and brushed up against the werewolf. The other three animals all sighed in relief that Remus and the fox had gotten along so easily.

Remus nudged the fox playfully and started to jog away from them. It was obviously a sign that the werewolf wanted to run around like that usually did at night. With no hesitation, the fox runs after him and seems to be ready to enjoy itself the same way that the other group always did. It seemed like the group now had an added companion for their journey.

Sirius barked loudly and ran after them in order to catch up to Remus and the mysterious fox. James followed after quickly to make sure that they didn't lose sight of their friends and the fox. The night was going to be quite eventful now that a fifth animal had joined their unusual pack.

* * *

Remus grunted softly as he took a potion from Madam Pomfrey's hand. He thanked her gruffly and started to gulp down the potion greedily. He was laid out on one of the many beds in the Hospital Wing with a killer headache and an aching body. It was just like any normal morning after a full moon. The boy had learned to deal with everything that came with the changing once every month.

However, he had fewer scars on his face than he usually got when he was younger. Whenever he went through his monthly changes he always woke up with fresh scars littering his face from his own beastly self harming himself. That was due to being locked up by himself and unable to go after any humans as his instincts wanted.

Yet, nowadays, due to his friends becoming animaguses and taking him out of the Shrieking Shack at night, his body had not been littered with as many scars as in the past. Yes, he still had the occasional new scar that he wakes up to find on his face but it was not as deep or visible as they were like they use to be. Remus was so grateful for his friends.

After only knowing each other for a few years, James, Sirius, and Peter were willing to illegally become animaguses in order to make his transformations more bearable. If that wasn't true friendship, he didn't know what was.

Speaking of those friends, the three other boys came bounding into the hospital wing quickly. Remus could already tell from their wide smiles and the spark in their eyes that something had happened last night. Going by their smiles, he was certain that it wasn't anything bad, per se. However, Remus could say that they all had a different definition of what was "bad" and "good".

James hopped over to the left side of Remus' bed while Sirius took the right and Peter too the end of the bed. "Monny! Good to see you awake!"

Remus smiled weakly, as he was still tired from the previous night, "yeah, I hope Madam Pomfrey will let me go to morning classes, I don't want to miss any more school than I already have."

The others rolled their eyes at him, "Merlin, Moony, you're the only werewolf I've heard of willingly wanting to go to _school_ instead of lying in for the day after a full moon."

Remus chuckled, "I'm the only werewolf you know, Padfoot."

"That doesn't matter right now," James started and earned Remus' attention.

The boy raised an eyebrow, "then what is?"

"Last night, after we got you from the shack you ran off towards the forbidden forest-"

"Okay? Don't we do that all the time," Remus asked as he didn't see anything out of the ordinary with that.

"Ah, let me finish!" James exclaimed. Remus raised his hands in surrender and submitted to the glasses-wearing boy. "Well, you ran off rather quickly and we thought that something was up," the two others nodded their heads in agreement. "We followed you to make sure that nothing was wrong and we found… a fox!"

Remus' eyebrows furrowed, "...a fox..?"

Sirius nodded his head enthusiastically, "yeah, it was by the pond just standing there!"

"So what happened?" Remus asked wearily. He knew what he could be like while as a wolf, he just prayed that he didn't hurt the poor animal. Though now that he thought about it… what was a fox doing in the forbidden forest? He was quite certain that foxes weren't native to the area… Strange.

The other three were just about bursting to tell him about what happened. "It befriended us!" They blurted out.

Remus became even further confused, "and it was alright with… _befriending_ a werewolf?" He really didn't believe that that actually happened. How could he! Nearly every animal, magical or not, would fear a werewolf. Sure, a werewolf would not go after an animal or anything as they only wanted to attack humans, but seeing a creature like himself would still be terrifying.

"Well," Sirius tilted his head from side to side, "not at first, it was more comfortable with me, James, and Peter, but it warmed up to you after a while."

The werewolf only stared at his best friend in utter bewilderment, "you're kidding, right?"

Sirius shook his head, "nope."

Remus laid back into the bed some more and started to contemplate what his friends had just told him. A normal person wouldn't think too much on that fact, but Remus was starting to overthink about it. "A fox that isn't afraid of a werewolf?"

James chuckled, "weird, isn't it?" Remus hummed and tried to settle his rigid posture propped up against the head of the bed. _Yeah, that is completely weird…_

* * *

The girls had an even harder time waking up Iris that morning. She was completely dead to the world and unwilling to get out of her bed. Even Lily's infamous wake-up calls couldn't do anything to wake her up. All she did was try to swat the water away while covering herself in her soaked covers. The girls worried that Iris was going to get hypothermia due to the cold water and her reluctance to get up.

But Iris did eventually get up on her own. Of course, it was when the other girls had already gotten ready and were heading out the door. They bid her a sarcastic good morning before warning her that she would miss breakfast if she didn't get up. At the prospect of missing breakfast, Iris sluggishly got herself ready as quick as her tired body would allow and met the girls in the Great Hall.

Iris appeared in the Great Hall with a loud yawn as she plopped herself across from Wendy and Marlene and next to her sister. She grabbed some food and a drink and began to scarf it all down. She didn't have much time to eat since she woke up so late. However, she couldn't bring herself to completely regret it. She smiled to herself as she remembers the cause of her being so tired.

Finding out about the boys' big secret was a big shock to her. Though she really had to admit that running around the Forbidden Forest with a _werewolf_ was terrifying at first. She came to the conclusion that the werewolf was, in fact, _Remus Lupin_. Dear Remus, who would not hurt a fly, who apologized for bumping into someone when it wasn't even his fault and who tried to keep his rambunctious friends out of trouble was a werewolf! Iris honestly didn't know what to do now that she knew that. Though she did know that she would not let fear dictate her actions.

Most people may become fearful of the person they found out to be a creature of the night. However, Iris was certain that Remus didn't choose to be a werewolf. Most people didn't. So she wouldn't hold it against him in any way. Remus was still the sweetheart he always is. She glanced down the table a short way to see a very tired looking Remus talking with the other boys with a small smile on his face. No, there was no way Iris could ever _fear_ Remus, even if he was a werewolf.

Iris stood up abruptly from the bench and started to climb out of her seat. "Where are you going, Iris?" Lily asked her when she saw her twin get up, "you haven't even eaten yet…" That was very unlike Iris.

Iris hummed, "I will, just got to talk to the boys for a moment." The three other girls shared a glance before shrugging their shoulders and watching as Iris walked over to the troublesome Marauders.

When they noticed that the redhead was coming over in their direction, they instantly ceased their talking and awkwardly picking up on another topic. "Professor Binns' essay was quite difficult, right?" Remus nervously chuckled. Iris had a feeling that they were talking about last night. Oh, Merlin, she couldn't wait to see there faces when she told them the truth.

"Morning boys!" She jumped into the seat next to James.

"Hey, Iris."

"Morning!"

"'Ello, love."

"Hi."

She at all the boys with a sweet smirk, "what were you boy's talking about?" They all jumbled on their words and tried to come up with some sort of coherent lie. However, their words only bumped against each other and made no sense at all. It is just watched them for a moment and tried to allow them to come together with a single lie. Yet they still hadn't come up with something before an awkward sentence enveloped them all. Iris eyed them all critically with a smile still on her face. The boys all shared a glance with each other as uneasiness washed over them. "Really? Hm. That's nice. I hope your night was well," she watched them all flinch at that. "Mine was quite nice. I suppose that's why I'm so tired now."

Sirius watched from across the table as his lady-love giggled lightly, her tone and expression didn't really sit well with him at that moment. "Why would you be tired, love."

"Well, _darling_, I was out all night, the moon looked so wonderful. Wouldn't you agree."

James sputtered, "w-why would we know?"

Iris shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know… You boys are usually awake for a long time after curfew. Perhaps you saw it."

"O-oh, well, I guess it would be nice, it was a f-full moon after all…" Remus chuckled out nervously.

The redhead nodded her head slowly and looked away from him, "yeah, yeah…" her voice was soft, "I know."

"Why are you telling us about your night, Iris?" Peter squeaked.

She took a deep breath. The girl really had to work up the courage to tell them the truth. She had spent a very long time after she snuck back into her dorm thinking about telling them her secret. There was literally only one other person who knew about her secret and they were in another country! It took quite a bit of internal debate on whether or not to tell them. However, she convinced herself on the basis that she knew their secret and they didn't choose to let her know.

"I guess I may have… Seen you three leave the common room…"

Sirius huffed and hit Peter over the top of the head, "you git!"

"I guess it was Peter who yelled last night then." Peter bowed his head in shame which confirmed for her that he was the one to alert her to their departure. "Well, that's beside the point, I followed you out to the Whomping Willow. I have to ask, how did you get the tree to do that?" She was completely fascinated and eager for their reply as the four grew pale now knowing that she most likely knew their secret. She stared at them as they become silent, and she now knew that they would most likely be silent for a while. She sighed, "look, I don't mind that you didn't tell me the three of you were… _animaguses_," she whispered to make sure nobody could hear her beside her friends. "I understand, entirely!"

"Really?" James coughed out. "How exactly can you understand?"

"Well, you know me…" She smirked, "people tend to say I'm a tad bit _foxy_!"

Lily suddenly appeared behind her twin, "Iris! Come on, eat this so we can go!" She shoved a piece of toast into Iris' hands before dragging her up. There seemed to be no arguing with Lily as she was trying to get her sister to leave the Great Hall and head to class a little early.

Iris took the bread and allowed herself to be dragged but shot the boys a final meaningful look. "I'll see you boys later."

The boys mulled over her words as they knew that it meant something… They honestly needed to find out quickly. She knew that they were animaguses and most likely that Remus was a werewolf. Yet she didn't mention it so maybe there was a chance that she didn't know. Remus didn't react to a human being nearby last night… only a fox.

Remus' eyes grew wide as he snapped to look at James and then the duo across from them. His warm, hazel eyes were wild and confused, "'foxy'! She said that she's 'foxy'!"

Peter stared at him in confusion, "that was strange…"

"Well," Sirius commented slyly, "you must admit that she is quite _foxy_."

"No, don't you get it!" Remus continued on loudly but quickly tried to control his voice. "She knows that you lot are animaguses… and possibly that I'm a werewolf. And what did we run into last night?"

James' eyes sparked with realization, "a… fox…"

"You guys can't be serious," Sirius commented as he knew what they had started to think. He scoffed, "Iris was not… that fox!"

"How do you know?"

Sirius puckered his lips, "well, we tell each other _everything_. I think she would mention the fact that she's an animagus!" It seemed logical to him. He and Iris shared everything with each other and for her to keep that large of a part of her from him seemed impossible and baffling. Then again… He did keep that part of himself from her, so he had to admit that he didn't tell her everything.

"But it would explain why she said 'foxy' and how she didn't freak out completely about finding out."

Remus agreed, "that's true. If someone found out, you'd think they would start shoutin' at us, right?" They all mulled over the statement for a moment. Around them, the sea of students started to leave the Great Hall and head to their first class for the day. It was wholeheartedly true. Any normal person would start yelling at them for being unregistered animaguses but not Iris. As she said, she could understand them better than anyone else if she was an animagus.

"So you really think that she was the fox from last night?" Peter asked quietly.

They were consumed by silence once more before all of them glanced in the direction that the girl had gone. Iris was still being dragged by her sister, however, she was constantly looking over her shoulder in their direction. Once she saw that they were looking at her, she smirked widely and winked. A spark of understanding and reassurance burned in her eyes as they all stared at each other. Then just as the moment happened, Lily pulled Iris out of the room and towards their first class.

It only took them a moment before the group of boys hastily stood up from their seats and started to run out of the Great Hall. They pushed past their fellow students roughly in order to try and get to Iris quickly. In their haste, they all shouted after the redhead as they wanted to question her on everything that had to do with her animagus secret.


	16. The Snakes Strike

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! So I've been trying to do a lot of work and I'm thinking that my updates are going to start to become a little chaotic going forward. We're nearing the end of this story and I have some big plans for what's to come. I am also working on a "secret" project that I'm hoping to get done in the next few months. I just wanted to warn you beforehand, in case I forget to do it in the coming future. Anyway, here's chapter sixteen!! Hope it's good!!

"**YOU'RE POSITIVE THAT THIS WILL WORK, SEVERUS?"** The cold, harsh voice of Regulus Black caused a shiver to climb down Severus' back. The menacing boy loomed over the older boy as his bleach blonde sidekick stood at his side. The two stared down at Severus and looked just about ready to tear into the poor boy like savages if he said the wrong thing.

The dark, icy corridor was almost completely empty. The trio of Slytherins was pressed up in a corner as the two more menacing of the three peered down at the third. Severus was stuck between Regulus and Lucius in front of him with the stone wall pressed up against his back. His brow was covered in a nervous sweat as he fiddled with the ends of his robes.

Severus nodded his head vigorously, "y-yeah, It will. As long as she uses it today and you get to her before the effects wear off then it will work."

The greasy-haired boy was shaking in fright before the two boys. The other two were pleased to see the fear that they enlisted in Severus. It was always so _wonderful_ to see that they held such power over someone else. The pathetic teen that submitted to them so easily brought such pleasure and pride into them in a sickening way. What kind of person would be _pleased_ to know that they instilled fear in someone else?

Regulus and Lucius nodded their heads in understanding, "give it to her then." The older blonde demanded of their lackie, "make sure that she gets it before the game today."

Severus nodded his head once again in the same rushed manner. Regulus smirked, "good, by the end of today, that little mudblood will be ours." His pale lips were pulled back in a sick smirk that was mirrored by Lucius. Severus only shook in fear at their expressions. Everything he had strived to stop from happening… was slowly coming together.

* * *

The weekend for the Hogwarts students had begun with such excitement. There was a quidditch game scheduled for that Saturday morning between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Of course, all of the Gryffindors were yelling and shouting about their soon-to-be victory against the house of know-it-alls. The Great Hall was full of loud students, specifically at the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. The Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were far quieter and annoyed with their peers' loudness.

Students from the other two houses were most likely not going to see the game that morning. If a certain house was not playing during a game then the students of that house didn't see a reason to go to the game their team was not playing at. Of course, there were a few exceptions for students who had friends in other houses. However, the game today was certainly going to just be between students of the Gryffindor house and Ravenclaw house.

The year was slowly coming to an end and the quidditch games were decreasing every month. Even if the weather was slowly growing warmer and clearer as flower bloomed and trees began to bud, winter turned into spring and spring was going to turn into summer quite quickly. Summer only meant the end of the school year!

Lily was one of the students who weren't as excited about the match for the day. Much like she forced her friends to study for their classes, Iris and the other girls had decided to force her to go to the quidditch match. The younger redhead wasn't much of a sports fan of either muggle sports or wizarding sports. She never really found them to be appealing in any way. She never played one and had no intention of doing so or even watching a game if she could avoid it. However, like the last few Gryffindor matches, there was no way that Lily could avoid this one.

First, Iris was one of the biggest fans of quidditch that Lily had ever come to know. Iris had become obsessed with the game as soon as she learned about it when they first attended wizarding school. There was no way that Iris was going to miss out on one of the last matches of the year. Second, it was Ravenclaw that they were competing against! Marlene was not going to miss the chance to see William Hanning play, even if it was against her own house. Of course, Wendy had the same outlook on sports just as Lily. However, she was a tad bit more willing to go outside and watch the game with her friends and hang out with them. She may not enjoy sports, but she was willing to endure the loud crowds if it meant having a fun time with her friends. Which Lily could agree with.

Lily was currently getting up from her seat in the Great Hall. Iris had already run out of the hall to head to the Quidditch pitch to get good seats, Marlene went along with her so she could get a good seat to see William best, and Wendy had gone back to the dorms to grab herself a sweater. Even though it was summer, Wendy still had the ability to get cold easily. It was quite weird, honestly.

The redhead started to make her way towards the exit of the hall to go find her friends and sister when a figure blocked her way. She came face to face with a teenage boy who she had only a slight dislike for. It wasn't Potter, obviously. That insufferable boy was getting ready for the match and most likely already at the pitch. No, it was Severus Snape.

The meek boy stood in a hunched manner as it appeared he wanted to disappear at that very moment. He looked anywhere but she and everything about him in that moment screamed nervousness. The greasy-haired boy fiddled with his hands and the ends of his robes and tried to calm himself down through deep breaths.

Lily glared at him slightly though it wasn't as harsh as they had been for a while. She was starting to come to a standstill with her anger towards the Slytherin teen. Yes, Severus deserved the hatred in her eyes. However, it was becoming tiring to have to stay mad at him. He made _one_ simple mistake! One that could easily be ratified through apologizing quite a bit. Yet this was Iris that she was referring to. A simple apology isn't going to do much for her. Iris is known for her temper and ability to hold grudges, not to mention, her knack for blowing things out of proportions sometimes.

"H-hi, Lily…" Severus' voice cracked.

Lily bit the inside of her cheek, "Severus."

The ice in her voice pierced the boy's skin and caused him to flinch. He would never grow used to the way that Lily and Iris looked at him. He could feel the hate-filled daggers stabbing his body, and he didn't like it. However, he knew that he deserved every glare and malice word. It was his fault that they would hate him _when_ they found out what he had been doing. There was no if they found out… he knew that they would find out about the plan sooner or later. Their relationships would then become nonexistence.

"I really wanted to talk to you," the boy squeaked out with a soft voice. Lily only continued to stare at him. He licked his lips, "I just want to ask for forgiveness-"

"You've been trying to do that for a while now."

Severus nodded his head hastily, "yes, yes. I just- Well, I-" He took a deep breath to gather his words. The calculating stare that Lily was shooting him wasn't really helping his attempt to calm down. "I really don't know how to start this."

Lily tsked, "why not with an apology?"

Severus gulped, "right, yes." He cleared his throat, "Lily, I am so _so_ sorry, for everything that I've done." Lily's gaze softened. "I wish Iris was here so I can apologize to her too because she deserves the biggest one I can _ever_ give anyone."

Lily smiled slightly at his words, "you really mean that, Sev?"

Severus tried to flash her a believable, genuine smile as his heart clenched at the use of his nickname. He succeeds and was able to hide his grimace that wanted to settle on his face, "you know me, Lily. I just want to fix our friendship. Iris is like my sister and I hate the fact that we're fighting like this." Oh, those words felt like poison on his lips. They burned his throat as they crawled outward and scratched his esophagus on their journey as they fell out clumsily. He did want to fix his relationship with Iris _and_ Lily. While Iris was like his sister… Lily was obviously something more to him. Ever since they became friends, the boy had grown a very strong attachment to the younger twin. He may be young but he would go even far to say that she _loved_ Lily Evans. Due to the strain in his relationship with Iris, stress had been placed on the one between himself and Lily. He didn't like that, at all. The twins had become a big part of his life, a sister and a… whatever Lily was to him. To lose them would be devastating. However, the actions that he was currently taking were in no way helping his attempt of fixing those relationships.

Lily smiled slightly at that as she believed him wholeheartedly, "you just want to make it better with her?"

Severus held in a flinch and kept the smile on his face, "exactly."

Lily pondered for a moment. To her, it seemed to be that Severus really wanted to fix everything with Iris and her, and Lily was willing to help him. All of this had gone on long enough already. It was time for reconciliation!

Severus dug through his pockets hastily and pulled out a bottle of his familiar and infamous perfumes. Lily smiled at that. Severus was very skilled with potions and she didn't find it to be surprised that he was able to make something like a simple perfume. Plus, she did like the smell of them quite a bit.

"Oh, you want to give her another perfume?" Severus nodded his head, "are you sure that you should? Iris hasn't been really willing to use them…" Lily couldn't help but notice how Iris had been adamant about not using the perfumes that Severus had been gifting them. She really didn't know why she didn't want to use them. Yes, Iris wasn't the girliest girl there is and wouldn't normally use something like perfume, but Lily would think that Iris would use something that was a gift from a close friend. Granted she was holding a grudge against Severus, but Lily would think that if Iris wanted to make things better between them she would accept Severus' gifts.

Severus gulped, "I know, but I really think that this is perfect for her." He didn't really need to come up with a good reason for his "gift". From what he could observe of Lily at that moment, she was willing to do anything to help him _fix_ his relationship with Iris.

"You do know that she is quite suspicious about your perfumes," Lily commented as they started to walk through the corridor to a quieter place now that more students were filing out of the Great Hall. "For some reason."

"Then don't tell her it's from me!" Severus exclaimed quickly, "I just really want her to have it…"

"Okay, okay." She took the glass bottle that was filled with the clear liquid. "I'll give it to her, and I won't tell her it's from you." She thought that if she did that Iris may be slightly more inclined to take it. Then when Severus tried to fix their relationship he could tell her that he was the one to make it. That fact may possibly help convince Iris to consider mending what was left between the two of them. That's what she hoped for anyway.

Severus sighed out in relief at her agreement, "thank you, Lily. This means a lot to me."

Lily smiled softly, "hopefully now everything can go back to normal!"

Her optimism only caused his stomach to sink further, "yeah… I hope so."

* * *

Lily skipped through the corridors on her way to the Gryffindor tower. The conversation that she had with Severus had put her in good spirits. The prospect of fixing the fractured relationship between herself, Iris and Severus gave her a sense of optimism. They could finally put the simple mistake that Severus made behind them and make up for lost time together.

As she was walking through the portrait hole after giving the Fat Lady the password, a shout greeted her in the common room. "Come on, Marlene!" Her twin sister shouted up the stairs to their friend, "we won't get good seats if you don't hurry up!"

"Hey, Iris!" Lily said happily as she came to stand next to her nearly identical twin. A wide smile was stretched across her pale lips and display her straight, pearly white teeth. "What are you doing up here? I thought you already went down to the game."

Iris wrinkled her nose slightly, "we were. But _somebody_ forgot to get her flag!"

Marlene then came down the stairs with said Gryffindor flag that she had accidentally left on her bed. "Well, sorry, miss. Impatient. The game doesn't even start for another fifteen minutes, we have plenty of time to get back to our seats." She shrugged her shoulders.

Iris huffed, "doesn't matter, I wanted to stay down there to see the teams practice before the game."

"We don't always get what we want!"

As Iris and Marlene were arguing with each other slightly, Lily pulled out the perfume that Severus had given her out of her satchel. She held the small bottle for a moment as she allowed the two girls in front of her to bicker for a moment longer. Just as she saw that the argument was going to go around in circles (like usual), she cleared her throat.

The two bickering girls paused to look at the younger redhead who seemed to be bouncing on the balls of her feet. A broad smile was on her lips as her pearly, whites were on display. "Stop fightin' with each other over a flag," the amusement of the situation was getting to her. She thrust her hand forward to show the two the clear bottle of perfume that she had. "Here, Iris. I got this for you!"

At the sight of the bottle, Iris just about hissed in distaste. It looked almost exactly like the ones that Severus had been giving her nearly all year. Why Lily was suddenly trying to give her one was suspicious on its own to Iris. She knew to be careful with snakes like him. If Severus had been able to get to Lily, then Iris was going to have a fun time cursing the boy into next week.

"Where did you get that, Lily?"

Lily could instantly hear the skepticism in Iris' voice. It honestly wasn't going to help that Iris was reluctant to take any sort of perfume that was given to her. She suspected that every perfume was evil, mainly because of Severus. This silly quarrel was just causing the most absurd assumptions to be made, in Lily's opinion. What could a simple perfume do?

"Hogsmeade!" She lied smoothly. She could only thank Iris for her knack of lying so quickly, they do learn a few things from each other every once and a while. "I got it last weekend and I tried it out. I don't really like it that much, but I think that you will!" Her over-enthusiasm may be throwing up some red flags for Iris, Lily realized. However, she did her best to try and seem casual under her sister's narrow-eyed gaze.

"Really?" Iris tsked, "where in Hogsmeade?"

"Madam Puddifoot sells more than just tea and such."

Iris pursed her lips and turned her gaze towards the bottle. It did look like the ones that Severus' had been giving her, and she was completely uncertain if she could trust Lily at this moment. She knew that Lily was less aggravated with Severus than herself and that she wanted to make things right between them. Yes, Iris wanted to do the same, however, the perfumes added something completely different into the mix. She didn't know _what_ they did, yet she knew that there was something weird with them. Of course, she didn't have any proof of that, but she had a very strong hunch about them.

"Oh?" Iris scoffed.

Lily sighed and exclaimed in exasperation., "I don't see why you don't believe me!" She allowed her eyes to display a small lick of betrayal. If she did that then Iris would start to feel bad about accusing her or insinuating that Lily was lying to her. Granted, Lily technically was lying to her, but she could just use that to her advantage.

Iris' narrowed brown eyes surveyed her sister and zeroed in on the perfume in her hand. She took a deep breath, "you got it from Hogsmeade? Not from Severus, right?"

"Of course, I know you don't like Severus right now! I wouldn't do that to you!" Oh, she was lying through her perfect white teeth.

Her nearly identical sister hesitantly took the bottle from her, and Lily couldn't help herself but smile widely at her. It seemed like her scheme to get Iris to take the bottle had worked perfectly. "I'll take it, but if I find out that this has anything to do with _Severus_-"

"You'll hex not only me but him as well, you have nothing to worry about!" She was just about bouncing on her heels. "Why don't you use it now?"

Iris' eyebrows furrowed as she grew suspicious of her enthusiastic words, but she brushed it off for the moment. "And why would I use it now?"

"I'm sure Sirius would love for you to use a perfume like this."

"Why do you- never mind, I don't care _why_ you want me to wear it for Sirius." She took an apprehensive look at the bottle and a glance at Lily. Her twin was smiling encouragingly, and Iris couldn't help herself but believe that Lily was telling the truth. The girls ever rarely lied to each other. If Lily did lie, then Iris would dish her out a punishment. However, Lily was the less likely out of the two to actually lie especially to her. She could trust her sister. "Whatever…" She opened up the top of the bottle and started to spray it onto her pale neck.

Lily just about squealed out loud at that but was able to keep it in. She could only hope that Iris would love the perfume and then later she could tell her the truth. Yes, lying to her did hurt Luly just a bit, but she could live with herself for the moment.

Iris took a deep breath in order to smell the perfume… but she couldn't smell anything. It was strange, there was no scent from the actual perfume. She sprayed it on herself once again to hopefully smell something only to earn the same result.

She looked at Lily, "I don't-"

"Oh, that smells lovely," Marlene commented as she took the bottle from Iris to examine it. "Next time we go to Madam Puddifoot's, Lily, you have to show me where you bought it!"

Lily nodded her head, "no worry, I will. Now, don't we have a quidditch match to get to." She then spun on her heels in an obvious scene of glee and headed for the exit. The other two followed after her as Iris tucked the perfume into her pocket and got ready for the match. However, her eyes twitched slightly as a sharp pain suddenly hit her in the back of her head. She brushed it off. There was something far more important to focus on, quidditch!

* * *

The trio of girls was rushing through the corridors to head to the pitch outside. The game was no doubt about to start, and Iris was cursing Marlene's inability to remember grabbing the flag before. Honestly, if it wasn't for Marlene, Iris was certain that she would be cheering on Gryffindor as the teams finished up their short before game practice or joking around with Remus and Peter.

She really couldn't wait to actually see the game. She had seen only a few matches due to her detentions over all of the weekends that the matches happened. Thank Merlin that Iris refrained herself from pulling any pranks that would have drawn the attention of a teacher.

Just as the girls were rounding a corner that would lead towards the entrance of the pitch, they came face to face with a bleach-blonde snake.

Iris scowled as she ran smack dab in the middle of Lucius' chest. The slimy teenager smirked down at the redhead that shouted in disgust and jumped away from him hastily. "Lucius!" She shouted with so much malice dripping from her voice like venom.

"Ah, if it isn't our favorite redhead." His smirk sent a wave of nausea through Iris' stomach. Even more so, her head was killing her! She took sharp deep breaths to control herself. "My, don't you smell wonderful, Iris."

She just wanted to puke all over that moronic Slytherin, and she just might with how her stomach felt and her head was swimming as she stood there trying to glare the best she could at him. "Oh, leave us be Malfoy!"

The two of them stared at each other intently as icy, dull blue eyes searched inside of hazy, enraged brown eyes. It only lasted for a moment when Marlene pulled Iris away from Lucius and placed herself in between the two along with Lily.

"Leave us alone, Lucius! Don't you have something else to do?" Lily asked with a grimace.

Lucius seemed to become irritated and angered as he glared at Marlene. Neither of the girls could tell if he was angered because they had pulled Iris away or for some other reason. Though it wasn't like they cared, at all.

"Come on, let's go," Marlene said as she pushed Lucius away and to the side. He allowed himself to be pushed away as the trio walked past him with scowls. However, Iris' scowl was slightly strained as her body just seemed to have suddenly become sick!

He watched them go and cursed, "I'm going to kill that half-blood." He spun on his perfectly polished dress shoes and marched away in order to find his partners in crime. Well, one was his partner the other was more of his slave than anything.

Iris groaned as she was lead away by her sister and friend. Marlene took a glance at her and instantly became concerned from the way that Iris had become so pale since they had left the dorms. It was quite unsettling.

"You alright, Iris?" Marlene asked but didn't pause in their walking.

Iris took a deep breath and smiled, "perfectly fine and ready for the quidditch match!" She cheered with the most convincing voice that she could. It seemed to work when Marlene nodded and focused back onto the top of the game. Each of them seemed to want to forget that they had even run into Lucius only a few moments. Marlene instantly started to babble about William and getting to see him to play while Lily listened to her quick and excitement-filled words.

Iris did her best to try and focus on the conversation, that was really just Marlene ranting about the boy, yet had a hard time doing it. Her stomach had settled down slightly as her head was a tad bit clearer before but there was still some terrible feeling that settled in her body. Perhaps seeing Lucius' disgusting face had made her sudden sickness worse, and now that he was gone, she was starting to feel better. That's all it was. It was Lucius' fault.

* * *

The loud crowd of students and faculty all shouted and cheered as the quidditch match went on. It had been nearly forty minutes of gameplay and Ravenclaw was currently in the lead with one hundred and thirty points and Gryffindor only had seventy points. Currently, Sirius, a Gryffindor beater, was batting away a bludger as it was aimed at one of the team's chasers and James was frantically searching for the snitch.

It always amazed Iris how seekers, like James, were able to even see the snitch. That bloody little thing moved way too fast for her eyes to even focus on it properly. It really was only a quick glint of gold when the light caught it, at least to Iris. However, Gryffindor really needed to catch it before Ravenclaw. They were behind in points by quite a lot and there was no doubt that Ravenclaw would take a large lead over them. At that point, it wouldn't matter if James caught the snitch!

That was probably why Iris was fiddling with the scarf around her neck in anxiety. Oh, she was really into this game! She usually got like this, especially whenever she listened to the matches involving the Chudley Cannons.

"Come on, James!" Iris shouted along with her peers around her, "find that bloody snitch!"

Marlene cheered when William stopped the quaffle from going into his team's goal. That act earned her a few glares from her fellow Gryffindors. "Yes! William! Woo!"

Wendy nudged her friend, "hey! You have to support your own house, don't you know."

The brunette just rolled her eyes, "Oh, shush."

"Even Lil is cheering on _our_ team." Iris pointed to her sister on the other side of Marlene who was clapping along with a chant that had started up.

"Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!"

Iris turned to Remus, who was on her left side, and Peter, who was beside him, with a large excited smile. "Do you think that they'll win this one?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders but didn't let his smile slip, "not sure, but there's no doubt that they'll go down without a fight." Iris could agree with that. There was no way that the team, or Sirius and James for that matter, would go down quietly.

The teams continued to battle with each other. The chasers fought with each other, the beaters protected them and aimed the bludger at the opposing team, and the seekers kept their eyes alert for the snitch. There were so much anxiety and suspense hanging in the air that Iris was certain that she was suffocating in it. Then again, that may just be her head messing with her again. Yes, her headache hadn't gone away, and, honestly, she didn't think that it would have.

Everyone held their breath as James zoomed off in one direction, most likely after the snitch. The Ravenclaw seeker followed after him to hopefully get a glimpse of the snitch but it seemed to be too late. Jame shouted in triumph as he slowed down on his broom and held the snitch up in victory. Gryffindor had now won with a score of two hundred and twenty!

Every single person that was rooting for the team was on their feet shouting and celebrating. That included the quartet of girls who cheered loudly and allowed their voices to blend in with the collection of their peers. Of course, the Ravenclaws looked a bit put out at a loss, but it wasn't the end of the world. If Gryffindor _had_ lost, there was no doubt that they would be sore losers. Slytherin and Gryffindor were the biggest competitors when it came to quidditch matches throughout the year.

They watched as the Gryffindor team all flew to the pitch and started to congratulate each other on the win. That's when the students started to spill onto the field as well. They rushed to the team members and bombarded them with pats on the backs and hugs. Iris happened to throw herself onto James and Sirius when she was able to get close enough to congratulate them. Marlene and Wendy did the same, but Lily didn't. She settled with a simple pat on the back for both of them. Of course, Remus and Peter congratulated them happily as well after Iris had let go of them from her bone-crushing hug.

Everyone was high with the victory and ready to head to the common room to celebrate properly. However, as everyone started to make their way towards the castle, Iris noticed that something was missing from her neck.

"My scarf!" She shouted and glanced around in order to find it.

Sirius turned to her when he noticed that she lagged behind, "come on, love. We've got to head to the common room."

Iris turned to him with wide eyes, "I lost my scarf. I must've left it in the stands by accident." Sirius raised his eyebrows. It was just a scarf, as far as he knew she could get a new one. "My mum made it for me last year, I can't lose it."

That made sense. Sirius nodded his head in understanding, "I'll help you go find it."

The redhead just smiled at him, "no, it's fine, I can get it myself. You've got to get to the party that is no doubt going to start."

"Let them start parting, I just want to make sure that you find your scarf."

The sweet gesture brought a soft pink glow onto Iris' cheeks, "darling, I can find my scarf myself." She wrapped her arms around his neck when he was close enough and smirk, "I'll be there in just a bit, alright?"

Sirius stared at her and fought within himself. He didn't want to leave her alone for too long. Considering neither he or anyone else would go be going with her. He didn't want her to be alone, at all! What if those slimy snakes were somewhere, lurking and waiting for her?

"I'll be fine," Iris pecked his lips and smirked at the dazed look on his face as he broke out of his thoughts. "Just a minute."

Sirius cleared his throat, "okay, I'll meet you in the common room then."

Iris giggled and kissed him once more, "be back in a minute."

Sirius watched as she skipped away to find her scarf. If only he had noticed the pair of beady eyes watching them part. If only he had gone against her words and went with his gut to go with her. If he did… Things certainly have turned out different.

* * *

Iris made her way towards the stairs that lead up to the stands that were high in the sky. She was just about ready to step up the first step when a voice caused her to stop dead in her tracks. "Iris?"

The voice was timid and not confident whatsoever. It was a voice that Iris was completely familiar with as she had been hearing ever since she was ten-years-old. A scowl placed itself on her face as she took a breath to control herself. The headache was slowly coming back as she turned around to glare at the boy obviously following her.

She could see in the shadows of the stands that Severus Snape was fiddling with his hands and the end of his black jumper. He kept his head bowed and didn't look in her direction at all. He looked like he wanted to be swallowed up in the darkness and disappear from standing in front of her. He blocked the entrance of the stairs, but Iris was certain that she could push past him to get out. It wasn't like Severus was capable of stopping her. He was pretty weak. Pathetic.

"What do you want, _Severus_?" Iris growled, "I thought I said to not talk to me."

Severus nodded his head meekly but didn't look up to her. Iris wasn't sure if it was in shame or fear, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do now was find her scarf and march herself out of his presence. Though before he could respond or she can walk away, a set of footsteps stopped either of them from doing anything. The two of them looked up the creaky, wooden stairs to see a silhouette coming down them. Iris was able to catch a glimpse of her scarf held snuggly in the figure's hands.

For a moment, she was quite relieved to see that someone had found her scarf. However, as soon as the person standing in the light, Iris just about screamed.

Gelled, short black hair shimmered in the sunlight while cruel grey eyes were exposed to the pair at the bottom of the stairs. His large smirk churned Iris' insides as her body started to become sick once again.

The redhead hissed loudly at him in complete hatred. "_Regulus_."

The younger boy just stared her in the eye triumphantly. It was as if he had just won the lottery from the way that he was confidently strutting down the stairs to stand in front of her and Severus. She didn't even turn around to see that Severus was completely pale with his head bowed in nothing but shame.

Regulus clicked his tongue, "you sound unhappy to see me, Iris."

The girl shivered in disgust at the way that he said her name and bile to rise up in the back of her throat. Or was that just her stomach acting up again. Being around Regulus, Lucius and Severus were certainly not doing anything good for her health… she could only wonder why.

She coughed in order to stop herself from throwing up right there. She ran a hand through her hair and noticed that they were shaking. In fact, her entire body was slowly starting to shake. Her nose began to be clogged up with a smell that she could not identify but she found so enticing. Perhaps she could finally smell the perfume but why was she able to smell it now.

She tried to keep her appearance strong and confident as she was under his intense stare. He seemed to be far more self-assured about something that she had no clue about. She only kept herself glaring at him. However, as he descended the stairs and came to stand right in front of her, she found her senses completely dulled as she focused on the boy in front of her.

"Just give me my scarf…" She tried to keep her voice strong, but it was slowly losing its edge and disgust aimed towards him. It was becoming softer with every word that she said.

The boy's smirk only seemed to grow wider and Iris thought that his face was about to split in half. "Oh," he looked down at the purple fabric in thought, "this? This is yours?"

Iris could only find herself nodding in reply as her legs began to shake. Her eyes were glued to Regulus' face as he turned back to her. He looked back up to her and locked eyes with her. The black-haired boy stepped closer to her and Iris did her best to take at least one step back. It seemed to take everything in her power to take that single step back. There was a part of her that didn't want to move, and that completely terrified her. It was like there was an internal fight within herself about whether or not Regulus was disgusting.

What in Merlin's name is going on?!

Regulus only continued his forward stalk and came to stand so close that Iris could smell his horrid cologne. He didn't tower over her as he was younger than her and they were just about the same height. However, she was slowly becoming intimidated by him as he leered at her through his dark lashes.

"Yes…" She breathed out as they had yet to break their stares. "Now… give it to me…" She reached out to grab it from him only for him to grab her wrist and halt her. Iris didn't fight back. She couldn't. She honestly couldn't find herself fighting against him.

"I'll give it to you, but I want a reward for finding it."

Iris' mind was completely blank. It was as if she forgot who _exactly_ she was talking to. "What do you want?" This wasn't Iris! She lost all her confidence, disgust and hatred that she held only a few moments ago. Instead, she had transformed into a shaking, quiet, insecure girl who trembled under the stare of the boy she loathed the most. Though at that moment it was as if she forgot that Regulus Black was the boy who had become like a plague to her throughout the year.

Severus only watched from the archway of the staircase. His eyes were filled with regret and self-hatred. Oh, he hated himself at that moment so much. In fact, he had been hating himself ever since the other Slytherin boys had first told him what to do. If only he was stronger! If only he could stand up for himself and his friends then maybe this wouldn't have happened. But that was the past. Now, he had to watch as his pseudo-sister changed completely because of his own concoction. He had screwed up completely and ruined any chance he had fixing their relationship the moment he took them up on their demands.

Regulus leaned towards her, "what does every boy want?" He stopped himself from chuckling out loud as he watched to girl's eyes become lidded and in a trance. She was right where he wanted her. He had finally achieved his goal. "A kiss from a beautiful girl like you."

Iris couldn't say anything. Her mind was fuzzy, her eyes were solely focused on Regulus, and her entire body was on the verge of collapse. "...Really?"

Regulus didn't answer. He only ducked his head down and pulled the dazed girl into a kiss. It wasn't heated like the ones that his brother was able to dish out to the many girls he had seduced. Though it wasn't a simple kiss either. It seemed that, just like Sirius, Regulus had some experience with girls.

Iris was rigid and didn't know what to do. There was a part of her that was screaming so loud. The deafening scream was rattling in the back of her head and begging to push the boy away. However, ever so slowly, it was being silenced and pushed away itself. Soon enough it was locked away like an animal as new thoughts swarmed her head. Thoughts that weren't her own.

Regulus dropped Iris' scarf and wrapped his arms around Iris' waist to draw her in closer. Iris, completely under his control, submitted to the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck and indulge herself in the kiss.

They then pulled away and Regulus stared at the girl who still had her eyes closed and completely breathless. It was done. He got what he wanted. Iris opened up her eyes once again and they had completely lost their spark and were now dull and submissive. There was no way that Iris would fight against him and that was marvelous. Sure, the potion didn't work with Lucius. Perhaps it just needed a far more superior wizard to activate it on her. Maybe her hatred for him had fueled it far more than it did with Lucius. Regulus didn't care. All that he did care about was that it worked, and he could only thank their trusty potion maker for that.

He glanced at Severus with a wide smirk. Said boy looked sick and ready to throw up. He wrapped his arm around Iris' shoulder and started to lead her towards the exit. Severus moved out of the way and stared at them mournfully. "See you later, Severus."

He shivered at his words as Regulus walked off with Iris plastered to his side. It made him sick to watch a snake like him walk off with his best friend in his arms. As much as he didn't like it, Severus would much rather see her in Sirius' arms then his younger brother. At least then he would know that Sirius wasn't going to hurt her.

He turned back to the fallen scarf and hurried over to it. He picked it up and brushed off the grass and dirt that had gotten onto it. He recognized the scarf. In fact, he had one of his own as Mrs. Evans had made him, Iris and Lily for last Christmas. He held the scarf sightly and remorsefully teared up. He ruined _everything_! Iris was in danger and he just let it happen. It's all his fault! His fault!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh Oh.


	17. What Did They Do To Her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy... here we go.

**SIRIUS TRIED TO ENJOY HIS TIME WITH** the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team in the common room. However, he couldn't shake off the terrible feeling that had buried itself in his chest. The source of his concern was his red-headed lady love, Iris Evans. She had gone off to get her scarf that she left in the stands and he had been counting the minutes that she was gone. He cursed himself. He really should have gone with her!

His worry was felt by the rest of his friends but they tried to keep his mind off of it. Someone had pulled out some firewhiskey to the delight of just about everyone and James had thrust a cup of it to Sirius. After taking a few drinks of it, Sirius did lighten up. The thought of the missing girl hadn't completely left his mind, however, he was able to loosen up just a tad bit.

The girls had noticed that she was missing as well, but they wrote it off as her just messing about. They weren't entirely sure where she had gone off, however, they had asked Sirius and he told them she went back to get her scarf. That was enough of an explanation for that moment.

Yet as the night started to draw nearer, the celebrating started to die down, and Iris still hadn't shown up, they certainly became worried. So the group of friends sat around the fireplace with only one person missing. A few students were still recovering from the firewhiskey and were scattered around the room lazily strewn across chairs with headaches already forming. Those students were definitely going to have hangovers in the morning.

"She's been gone this entire time!" Marlene shouted loudly which was an obvious sign that she may have had too much firewhiskey. She leaned on Wendy and Lily as the three of them sat on the couch. "Why exactly did you let her go on her own?"

Sirius' jaw bobbed up and down as if he was imitating a fish when in reality he was trying to find his words. That was certainly a great question. However, it was one that Sirius could not come up with an answer to. "I don't know." Everyone stared at him with narrowed eyes, "I know. I know it was a bad idea... She just convinced me to let her go... by herself. She said she was just getting her scarf." He cringed at their incredulous stares. Though he knew that he deserved them.

"Who knows where she is now!" Lily exclaimed worriedly as she gnawed at her nails, "Merlin, it's late and she could be anywhere. What if she's lost a-and she needs help!"

Wendy wrapped her arm around the nervous girl's shoulders to offer some comfort. "Iris can't be lost, she knows her way around the school by now. Besides we know her, she can't get lost anywhere. That girl has a pretty good sense of direction."

"But still," Remus piped up, "should we go looking for her? Just to be safe?"

James stopped his pacing. He had been doing it ever since they had started discussing Iris disappearance. He was beyond nervous over his friend's disappearance. It didn't feel right at all. Iris wasn't someone to miss a party like the one they just had. Besides, it was one that was celebrating a quidditch match win! Iris' enjoyment for the wizarding sport rivaled that of James and Sirius themselves. It was strange to imagine that she would just abandon a party like that. Something was wrong.

He turned to them and threw his arms up, "yes, we need to go out and find her!" He licked his lips, "she's been gone for hours, and we all know that Iris wouldn't miss out on a party. She has to be in some sort of trouble."

"Maybe she got detention," everyone turned to the meek boy who decided to input his opinion. Peter squeaked at the attention and eyes now pointed in his direction and shrank in his chair. "It's possible."

Everyone shared a glance with each other, "...Maybe..."

It could have been possible that Iris had gotten detention for something. She got detention nearly every day due to pranks, mouthing off to teachers, or something else. It was a surprise that that thought wasn't their first about where Iris was. The girls obviously hated it while the boys enjoyed her troublesome behavior. However, at that moment, all of her friends cursed her for her behavior. None of them could tell if she wasn't with them due to herself or something else.

Just as they were going to continue discussing the next action to find Iris, the portrait hole swung open. Each of their heads snapped in its direction and held their breath as the seconds seemed like hours. The door closed and the girl that they had been worried over entered the room.

"Iris!"

They all jumped up at her arrival and crowded around her. She stared at them with vacant eyes though it wasn't like they noticed that yet. The only one who did was Sirius. He didn't like the way that her brown eyes seemed to be dull and empty while she didn't have her usual smirk. Her pale face was blank and held a minimal amount of emotion, just like her eyes. The others were relieved to see her safe, and don't get him wrong, Sirius was beyond relieved to see her safe as well. However, something didn't seem right about her, to him. The others may not notice it, but he certainly did.

Lily threw herself at Iris who swayed once her twin wrapped her thin arms around the nearly identical girl's shoulders. She smothered her sister with her infamous bone-crushing hugs that she was known for and only earned a half-assed one in return. She glossed over that though. Iris may just be startled by all the attention... which didn't seem all too plausible, but still, Lily was just happy that Iris was back. She let go and held Iris out to arm's length by the shoulders to get a better look at her sister.

Iris just tilted her head at them like her disappearance wasn't a big deal. "Oh, hi guys." Her voice was airy and light which was contradictory to how it usually sounds.

Wendy was next to hug the girl tightly, "where have you been?"

"We've been worried!" Remus shouted in relief.

James crushed her in a hug as well once he was next in line, "you've been gone for so long."

Sirius walked up to her next and wrapped her up in a hug as well. He couldn't help but notice that she didn't return the hug as tightly as he thought she would. They have hugged on many occasions before, due to Iris usually being quite a physical person, and it was like she didn't even want to touch him. "I thought something had happened to you."

Iris rolled her chocolate eyes at him and lightly pushed him away. "Don't worry about me. I am perfectly fine." There was a certain tone that drenched her voice and coated it in a bitter taste that just about nobody in the room liked. A slight tone of malice rolled off of her tongue and dripped into their ears which caused them all to cringe.

Sirius stared down at her in confusion and backed away due to her obvious revolution to his closeness. "Well, did you get your scarf?"

Iris hummed in disinterest, "no."

"Your scarf!" Lily exclaimed, "oh, Iris, I'm sure that we can find it."

She waved her hand dismissively and moved through the small crowd of friends, "it doesn't matter…"

Lily's jaw dropped, "'doesn't matter'? Iris, you love that scarf. Mum made you it."

Iris just continued towards the stairs to head up to the dorms. "It's just a scarf, Lily. I need to get to bed." With that, she disappeared upstairs and left her friends completely confused and worried.

Sirius shook his head, "that… was…" He couldn't come up with the words to describe exactly what had just happened with Iris.

"Strange." James gulped, "concerning."

It certainly was for her friends. They all knew that something had happened while she was gone. It was unclear of what had happened, but it obviously didn't seem to be good. Each of their minds raced with ideas and theories about what happened to her. Was she simply upset that she couldn't find her scarf? Did someone else upset her? Did she have a run-in with those idiotic snakes? No one was certain.

Marlene hiccuped as she leaned against the back of the couch, "she's probably just tired. She'll be better in the morning, I bet you!"

* * *

Iris was not better in the morning.

She woke up without a hitch. There was no need for Lily to spray her with water like usual, Iris didn't make a fuss about waking up, and she didn't even talk to the others. She woke up on her own, got dressed and left the dorm. That was something that Iris had never done, especially on the weekend. Lily watched her from her own bed in disbelief and wide eyes. Every movement she made was stiff and reminded Lily of the robot that she had seen in films. Besides, it was Sunday! Why in Merlin's name was Iris up so early on a Sunday morning when she has the chance to sleep in? Every movement she made was stiff and reminded Lily of the robot that she had seen in films.

Lily tried to get something out of Iris, but she only received a hum or sigh in reply. It was slightly infuriating for her to not get a straight answer out of her twin. Yes, there have been times when Lily never got answers out of Iris when they were having fights with one another. However, Lily was certain that they were not angry with each other. At least, Lily wasn't angry with Iris, and she was certain she hadn't done anything to anger her. She hoped that Iris wasn't angry with her or anyone for that matter.

Severus was a perfect example of how Iris acts when she is properly angry with someone. None of her friends would want to be treated the same way as Severus. Lily was beyond concerned and expressed that to Wendy and Marlene.

Through her raging headache, Marlene tried to calm Lily down, "it's slightly strange, but this is Iris we're talking about, she's quite the strange girl, right?"

"You may be right," Wendy commented as she pulled a brush through her long black hair. "But it's far more than strange. Something is definitely wrong with Iris."

Lily nodded her head as she grabbed her satchel(The one that James had gifted her for Christmas. She didn't want to admit it out loud but she quite likes it a lot. She would never tell that to the boy lest his ego grows even larger.) and filled it with some parchment, quills, and ink. She was going to document Iris' behavior in order to keep a closer eye on her sister. "I want to find out why she's acting like this. Something happened to her last night, I want to know what."

Much like the girls, the boys were also talking about Iris' strange behavior in their own dorm. As James and Remus rummaged around to find some clothes and Peter was in the bathroom taking a shower, Sirius was already ready. He was itching to get out of the dorm and find out if Iris was all right.

He couldn't sleep last night as Iris was the only thing on his mind. His concern for her ate away at his insides and wouldn't let him rest. Ideas raced in his mind to try and figure out why Iris was acting so weird. Sirius wanted to get to the bottom of what was happening to her. If she acted normal today, then he would back off and continue to keep a close eye on her. However, if something was wrong with her, he wouldn't stop to find out what was wrong with her.

"You lot are taking to long," Sirius whined as he hopped up from his bed.

James pulled his red shirt on and turned to his best friend. "Calm down, Padfoot. We know you want to check on Iris, we do too."

"Well, you aren't going fast enough!"

Remus finished getting ready and turned to his friend. "We're almost done. Just head down to the common room if you want. See if Iris is there already."

Sirius nodded his head at his friend's suggestion. Yeah, that was a good suggestion. Waiting for these gits was stopping him from checking on his lady-love. Iris' wellbeing was far more important than whether or not the boys got ready. So Sirius headed out of the dorm and stumbled down the stairs.

As he came out of the alcove to the stairs, the boy found himself standing behind Iris. The red-head had her back to him and didn't seem to even register the fact that someone had walked into the room. Her shoulders were rigid and draped in a thin red sweater over a white t-shirt that was easily matched with a pair of jeans and sneakers. Her ruby hair was just as unruly as it always was, though there was still something unnatural surrounding her. However, Sirius could only see that she seemed normal. That's all he wanted to see. Though she only looked to be completely normal. That fact certainly put Sirius in a good mood.

"Iris!" He shouted with a wide smile. The red-head stopped in her spot and slowly turned on her heels to face the boy. His smile dipped down into a frown when he saw the blank look on her face. "Morning, love." She didn't respond to him, but she did continue to stare at him blandly. He really didn't like that he wasn't getting any sort of response from her. "Are you feeling better?"

Iris just rolled her eyes, "I don't think that I have to tell you, Sirius."

The boy's stomach churned at the way she said his name. As he observed her longer he could see that she appeared to be… disinterested in him. It was like she was unimpressed with his presence at that moment. Never had he seen that in her eyes. Iris always had their spark of mischief and coquetry whenever she stared at him. Merlin, did he love the way that she looked at him. There was always a challenge whenever she fluttered her eyelashes at him and he was ready to step up to it. Now, it was just blank. She stared at him with… he shivered, it looked like she hated him. Why?

Sirius only tilted his head slightly, "well, you know… We're friends. Friends worry about each other, right?" The term 'friend' was a gross understatement of what they were. He was unsure of how else to categorize their relationship, but that was the last thing that he was thinking about. The one thing on the forefront of his mind was Iris' strange behavior. "Last night you were acting really weird."

He reached out to place a hand on her shoulder only for her shy away from him in a violent manner. A look of disgust crossed her face as she backed away from him. That was certainly concerning. It was like she was suddenly repulsed by his touch. How could she go from kissing him one day to trying to stay away from touching him? His stormy eyes were flooded with worry and alertness. Something did happen last night, he knew it.

Iris backed away from him with a grimace on her face, "yeah, whatever, Black." She then bolted away from him and made her way for the portrait hole. The usage of his last name shook him for a moment. Sirius wanted to go after her but a hand on his own shoulder paused his movement.

"Just let her go, mate," James told his best friend softly as he fully walked into the common room along with Remus and Peter following after him. It was obvious that they had seen some of the interaction between him and Iris. From the apprehensive looks on their faces, Sirius could tell that they felt the same way about her.

Lily then appeared with a book and ink in hand, "there is something seriously wrong with her." Wendy and Marlene followed after her down the stairs from the girls' dorm with the same look in their eyes. They all turned to the portrait hole with concern and fright in their guts.

* * *

When the group of Gryffindors made it down to the Great Hall they were greeted by an ungodly sight. Lucius, Severus, and Regulus were all stood right outside the entrance of the great hall. Now, the sight of those three snakes wasn't what was ungodly. No. It was the fact that a certain redhead was standing along with them. What was even more disturbing was the fact that she was smiling at them. Lucius's lips were pulled back in a sneer that tried to imitate a smile, Severus stared at the floor with a hollow look, and Regulus seemed to be even smugger than usual.

Each of the teens grew livid at the horrid sight. Not only were they angry, but they were scared by the sight of Iris Evans being chummy with the likes of those Slytherin. Sirius just about marched over to them with rage and frustration painted on his face.

Regulus was the first to notice his brother approaching. The smirk on his smug face just seemed to grow larger. "Ah, brother. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

Sirius glowered at his conceding words but kept his focus on Iris. "Come on, love. We're about to have breakfast."

"That's fine," her voice was harsh yet aloof. "You lot go eat, I'll just stay here."

"Here?"

Iris pinned him with a glare that froze him on the spot, "yes, here. Problem?"

Sirius was speechless. Did she forget who she was standing next to?

"Oh, I don't think that he likes that we're friends now, princess." Regulus hummed happily and did the most audacious thing that Sirius had seen. He dragged Iris into his side by her waist and held her close. What the-!?

Iris hummed, "I think he's jealous."

"J-jealous!?" Sirius sputtered as the rest of their friends finally came over to them. "I am not, and would never be, jealous of this twat!"

"Let's eat now, Iris!" Lily said as she put her book away into her satchel and walked over to her sister. She reached out her hand and brushed it against her upper arm. Iris didn't back away from her twin's touch as she did with Sirius. However, the action was obviously not welcomed. If anything, Iris just turned herself further into Regulus' side. That was something that everyone noticed and nobody liked.

Wendy chimed in, "you can't pass up breakfast, Iris."

"Yeah, you never do that!" Marlene exclaimed.

Lucius smirked, "there's a first for everything, right?"

The boys all wanted to lunch at the bleach-blond for his comment. Well, everyone sans Peter who stood at the back of the pack. Even Severus appeared to want to attack Lucius! Though before any of them could do that, Regulus spoke up, "if you want to eat, that's fine. We'll go somewhere else," he cast a vicious smirk at the girl he had plastered to his side. "Unless you want to go with them, princess."

They stared at Iris for her answer. For a quick moment, it seemed like she thought about the decision. A flash of confusion came and went across her face and if her friends weren't paying attention, they wouldn't have noticed it. However, they saw the hesitation for only a minute before her face became blank.

"I'll go with you, Regulus."

Her friends bristled, "Iris!" Remus exclaimed in surprise.

"You can't be serious!" Marlene shouted in fury.

Wendy was in disbelief, "are you insane!"

James glowered at Regulus with as much heat in his glare that he could muster. He wasn't angry at Iris, there was a tiny bit of annoyance with her behavior, but he was completely vexed with the slimy snakes. He was sure that they got his silent message though they didn't seem to care.

Lily just stared at her sister and observed her. Her pale hand was itching to reach into her bag and pull out her small book and quill to write down what was happening. She was extremely worried about her sister, now more than ever.

"See you, blood-traitors!" Lucious called as he, Regulus, Severus, and Iris turned away from the Great Hall's entrance and headed down the corridor. Their arrogance followed them and allowed the group of Gryffindors to breath a little easier, but their throats were still clogged with concern. They all wanted to run off after them and rip Iris from Regulus' slimy, little hands, but they were too dumbfounded to really do anything at that moment.

"Something happened to her last night," Sirius growled, "and I'm going to find out."

* * *

The Marauders moped down the hallway together as they were heading to their next class. The corridor was filled to the brim with Hogwarts students who were completely unaware of what was happening. It was the day after Iris had brushed off her friends to hang around the Slytherins for a very long period of time. Each of her friends was on edge about her. That morning was just the same as the one before.

Monday mornings should be the worst for Iris, but she was completely easy going like the day before. Much to the dismay of everyone, she ran out of the common room to the Great Hall where she sat at the Slytherin table. All of the other snakes at the table hissed at her arrival but were silenced by Regulus. She was completely unaware of it. She didn't really focus on anything that morning, not even eating. She just sat at the table and stared off into space. The others didn't even engage her into their conversations, the only one who did seem to pay attention to her was Severus who tried to get her to eat something. He seemed to be just as worried about her behavior as everyone else and there was also a hint of something else lurking in his dark eyes, but nobody could pinpoint it at the moment.

Everyone tried once again to talk and get through to her about her behavior, however, nothing worked once again. All she did was stare at them with the same vacant expression that scared them all. Due to that, the Marauders had been moping about for the entire day. There seemed to be nothing that could cheer them up. Well, there was one thing, but it didn't seem like Iris was going to be normal anytime soon.

"So what do we do?" Remus asked with a tone of defeat. "We could tell a professor…"

James scoffed, "come on, Moony. If we go to a professor we won't get to chance to curse them ourselves."

Peter squeaked, "but this is serious!" The three other boys glanced at Peter before nodding their heads slightly in agreement. Peter may not talk much, however, when he did, he made some… good points.

"Iris is in some serious trouble with whatever happened to her." Remus agreed while running a hand through his curly brown hair in frustration. "We don't know what's happening to her or if she's hurt. Who knows what will happen if we don't tell anyone."

"What if it's nothing?" Sirius asked out of the blue. His friends snapped their heads in his direction. It almost looked like their heads was about to splinter off of their necks. Why would Sirius say something like that? His gray eyes were staring off to space. If they had too, the boys would compare the empty look in his eyes with the one they had seen in Iris. He continued on with a monotone voice, "what if Iris just didn't want to be friends with us anymore?"

The group paused in their steps and came to stand in an alcove to avoid bumping into any other students. There were disbelief and confusion swarming the small group of friends at Sirius' words. James pushed Sirius' shoulder to get him to look at him. Cold gray met electric blue, "you can't really think that's true."

Sirius' shoulders sagged and sighed sadly, "yeah, I don't believe it." There was no way in the world that Iris would just leave their friendships like that. Especially over-night! It was like they all became dead to her in a day and for her to turn to Regulus, Lucius and Severus was beyond strange. As stated time and time again, it was concerning and strange.

Remus bit his lip, "you think your brother has something to do with this?" It was on everyone's mind, but Remus was the one to voice it for the first time.

Sirius glared at empty space and nodded his head ruefully, "no doubt about it."

"So what do we do?"

They were all bathed in silence at the question. They weren't completely sure what the correct action was. It is a serious situation that they were in the middle of. They were unsure if Iris was under some sort of spell or enchantment that influenced her to act the way she was. However, it did seem to be something very intense to get the strange behavior out of her.

Going to a professor was the best idea for them. If they tell them that Iris is being strange acting as if she was under a curse, then they would step in immediately and find out what is really happening. However, what if something wasn't found, or if they were ignored. Yes, the professors loved their students and would do everything to keep them safe but what if they didn't find anything.

Regulus had to be the one behind this and he was anything but an idiot. He'd be smart enough to try and keep whatever he did to Iris quiet and undetected. Lucius helped him, no doubt, and Severus would have also. They wouldn't turn on Regulus and talk about what they may have done to her. That didn't matter to Sirius! He didn't care if they had a minimal part to play in what happened to her, he was going to make them regret hurting her. They could just take this into their own hands to deal with the snakes in a way that they saw fit. However, first, they needed to find out what exactly Sirius' brother had done. And Sirius was determined to do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sirius is definitely going to do what he can to fix Iris! I just gotta say things are really going to start picking up in the next few weeks or so. Man, this is really fun to write! I love hearing from you guys! Anyway, until the next chapter my lovely readers!


	18. Those Sneaky Snakes

**A/N: I don't have any updates for basically any of my stories besides this one... I was going to try and update the others this week buuuuut I have exams coming up and I've had no time to actually write anything. So, I thought I'd update Foxy twice this week! Yay! Double uploads! **

* * *

**"I DON'T SEE WHY YOU WANT TO **talk to me so badly, brother." The taunting voice of Regulus Black asked in the empty corridor. He smirked widely at the glowering teen in front of him. It was obvious that he took great pleasure in vexing his older brother. His enjoyment was really annoying Sirius. At that moment, the older of the two wanted nothing more than to beat his brother into a bloody puddle. However, he tamed his fury and frustration for a little bit. After all, Sirius was in the middle of trying to interrogate Regulus. He wanted all of the information that he could squeeze out of the repugnant snake about Iris's behavior.

"You know exactly why!" Sirius seethed and didn't care if someone else heard him.

Regulus just chuckled, "I have an idea, but I don't believe I'm correct. Would you care to elaborate?"

"What did you do to Iris!"

He hummed, "oh, I see. You're worried about your precious mudblood, aren't you?" He loved playing with Sirius like this. Seeing the anger and desperation etched on his face was amusing! His sick pleasure was disturbing to just about anyone except maybe to another twisted individual like himself.

Sirius gritted his teeth in anger. How dare his little brother call his Iris a mudblood! That foul word should never be associated with anyone, especially someone that Sirius knows. Sirius hated his brother with a burning passion beforehand, however, now he detested his brother with every fiber of his body. What more evidence did he need to show that Regulus was a repulsive wizard who was nothing but a brown-nosed, tattle tale to their parents and thrived in the dark arts.

Ever since they were little, Sirius and Regulus were always at odds. Regulus looked to the darker side of magic and complied with everything that their parents forced upon them like blood-purity and the dark arts. The Black family was one of the biggest supporters of blood-purity and were known to despise everything even remotely not pureblood. Sirius was even disgusted to say that due to his family's hatred for muggles and anything nonmagical, his family was no stranger to incest. Merlin, his parents were technically second cousins which made his brother also his third cousin. He shuddered when he thought of his family. It was even rumored that the family was supporters of the infamous Lord Voldemort. However, that wasn't the topic of discussion at the moment.

Due to their family's traditions and teachings, both Sisiurs and Regulus were supposed to follow in their bigoted family's beliefs and become 'dark wizards' as the rest of their family is viewed as. Regulus did wholeheartedly and ate up every word that their parents spewed from their vile mouths. Sirius was different, however, and didn't worship everything that was said by their bitter parents.

He may have believed the things they said when he was younger and didn't know better, but that changed when he first started school at Hogwarts. He knows what the world is really like and no longer conformed to their views. So what if he was labeled as a 'blood-traitor' by his family, he didn't care. All that matters to him were his friends and hobbies. If his family hated him for that, then they weren't really his family.

Now it seemed like his brother was more than willing to hurt his close friends, like Iris. He could tell something would happen when he first saw the way that Regulus looks at Iris a few months ago. It was similar to that of a snake staring down its next meal. Now, for the past few days, Regulus stared at her with mild disgust underneath his stare but also a spark of triumph that Sirius didn't like. There was also a gleam of malignant and smugness due to the fact that Regulus had Iris on a leash.

"I can assure you, brother, that I don't know why Iris is acting the way she is." Regulus chuckled and hummed an afterthought, "muggle-borns are quite the strange bunch."

Sirius growled at the underlying tone of hatred in Regulus' voice, "don't talk about them like they're a different species."

His younger brother just continued to snidely smile as he was indifferent to the statement, "no matter. Maybe Iris has just realized who the better brother is."

"And you allow her, a muggle-born, to hang around you and your blood-purity loving friends?"

Regulus just shrugged his shoulders, "what if we've seen the errors in our views and befriended Iris out of kindness?"

"We both know that would never happen."

All he got in reply was a click of his brother's tongue. "Believe what you want, I have nothing to do with Iris' behavior." Sirius could see the familiar eerie smirk that wanted to plant itself onto his sick lips. His statement of no involvement in the redhead's strange behavior was void now that he could see Regulus was trying to keep his expression neutral. "Now excuse me."

With a flick of his robes, Regulus spun on his heels and allowed himself to be swallowed by the shadows that greeted him with open arms. Regulus certainly was welcomed happily in the dark which was why Sirius was so suspicious of him. The stormy eyes glared at the younger boy's back before he seemingly disappeared into the black abyss.

Sirius gritted his teeth in frustration. From that short conversation, he knew that Regulus was lying. He had tracked his brother down after he spoke with the other Marauders and was ready to get the truth out of him. If they had spent a few more minutes in each other's presence, Sirius had no doubt that he would have started to hex his brother until he told the truth. However, Regulus made a speedy escape into the inky darkness before he could do anything.

He ran a hand through his long hair and sighed out angrily through his nose. Sirius needed to figure something out in order to get his brother to admit what he did to Iris. He was definitely going to need the help of all of his friends and more to stop his brother and his own friends. Sirius was certainly determined to stop what plan they had in motion.

* * *

The group of Gryffindors sat together in the courtyard of their enormous school in a circle. Dread and hatred painted each of their faces as they took in what Sirius had to tell them. He was currently explaining his earlier interaction with his brother and how he knew that Regulus had done something to Iris.

"So what do we do now?" Marlene asked once they all absorbed the information.

James was fuming, "'what do we do?'! I say we curse those gits until they undo what they did to Iris."

"Why don't we just tell a professor," Wendy suggested with a nod of her head at the logic behind her words. "If we go to someone like professor McGonagall, she'll know what to do."

Remus nodded his head at the idea, "I said that earlier!"

"Yeah, you two can do that," James clicked his tongue, "I'm going after those snakes myself. I know you want to do that too, Pads."

Everyone turned to Sirius who had opted to stand instead of sit around the fountain like the rest of them. The bubbling of emotions in his body just wouldn't allow him to sit still at all. Every once he would pace in worry when he was explaining everything. Each of his friends could see how stressed out he was starting to become over this. Iris has been only acting under the influence of something for a few days but that's too long for anyone.

"Yeah, I do want to do something to them." He ran a frustrated hand his black locks, "I want to know exactly what they did to her, and I want to curse the lot of them for what they've done."

His voice was filled with malice and passion that were obviously mirrored on his face. His friends were just as upset about this, but they knew that he took this to a different level. It was his brother that was doing something to her, and it seemed like he blamed himself for this. That may also be due to the fact that he had let her go by herself the other night which resulted in her shift in behavior.

James nodded his head in agreement, "you lot," he gestured to everyone sans Sirius, "can go to a professor if you want." He jumped up and stood up next to Sirius as the both of them stood tall with their chests puffed out. Dark, determine looks painted their faces and caused shivers to crawl down their friends' spines. They had never seen such looks on their faces before! They've seen James and Sirius annoyed and happy, embarrassed and furious, however, this was something they have never witnessed. "But we're going after those bastards ourselves. You can come with and help if you want."

There was no talking them out of their decision. The look on their faces and the tone of their voices meant that they were going to go through with their plan. Not that the others didn't want to go after the group of snakes who had certainly hurt their friend, they didn't want to jump into a situation that they were unprepared for.

"Calm down for just a moment," Wendy stated. "As much as I love your passion to find out what happened to Iris, we need to make a plan."

"A plan?" Sirius asked in bewilderment. They don't need a plan! All they needed were their wands to torture Regulus and Lucius to know what they did to Iris.

Marlene nodded her head, "Merlin knows what they've done to her. If we just go after them, who's to say that they will break whatever spell or whatever Iris is under."

"That's where a professor comes in," James explained with a shrug of his shoulders, "we get to beat the snot out of them and a professor fixes Iris."

"I say we find out what exactly could be happening to Iris first," everyone turned to the redhead who had spoken up for the first time since they had all gathered in the courtyard. Lily had kept herself quiet when Sirius had been explaining his conversation with Regulus. She had taken a bit of a long time to digest everything that was said. Even though she was quiet, she was beyond angry. Her face had become the same color as her hair in obvious frustration and fury. Every one of her friends knew right away that there was no stopping Lily now.

She pulled out her satchel and rummaged through for the parchment that she had been periodically writing on for the day. It was covered in neatly written notes and, for a moment, her friends thought that they were just notes for a class. Though as she showed it to them clearer, they could see that it was a list with the title; 'Iris' Behavior'.

"What's that?" Remus asked.

Lily sighed, "I started to write down every strange thing that Iris has been doing the entire day. I thought that we could use this to try and match whatever is happening to Iris to something else." It made sense! If they were able to catalog Iris' behavior and research any similar symptoms to a spell or potion, then they would know exactly what to do to fix her.

"That's brilliant!" Marlene exclaimed, "if we find out what they used on her by observing her, then we can curse them as much as we want and fix Iris!" Everyone nodded their heads at her statement as they were all in agreement. They needed to go find Iris before they resorted to any sort of violence, much to the boys' dismay.

Just like that, they all stood up from their seats by the fountain in search of finding Iris. "James," a soft, angelic voice paused the glasses-wearing prankster's determined steps and spun on his heels to face his lady love. As everyone else started to walk off in the direction they thought they could find Iris, Lily slowly approached the boy she always thought of as a nuisance. "I…" Lily swallowed, "really appreciate you doing this for Iris."

"She's one of my best friends, I'd do anything for my friends." He smiled softly at her, "I'm also doing this for you, Lily. She's your sister." Lily stared at him for a moment. It was times like these that she actually thought of James as a normal boy instead of the toe-rag who annoyed her so much. There were small moments that Lily could never forget of James being sweet and caring. It gave her a moment to pause and overlook his loud personality to see him as a king boy. Now, don't twist her words! That doesn't mean she likes James Potter, like her sister, may say. No! Lily would never like a boy like James… but there was nothing wrong with tolerating him, right?

Lily sighed heavily through her nose and focused on the task at hand, "I just hope that we can fix her. I don't want to lose my twin."

* * *

The group of friends had split off into pairs to look for Iris around the large castle. Remus and Wendy headed to the dungeons, Peter and Marlene stayed outside, and Lily. James and Sirius headed towards the Great Hall. Their keen eyes scoured the corridors for any sight of red hair and pale skin. They ran into a few other students who were not the girl that they were looking for and they would only sigh in frustration and continued to search.

They ended up in front of the Great Hall and were relieved to finally catch sight of the girl that they had been hunting for. Iris stood at the entrance of the hall just like she had a day prior. The trio of friends could only hope and pray that this time they wouldn't have any unwanted company, unlike the other day.

"Iris!" The three bounded over to the girl like a pack of excited kneazles.

The redhead slowly turned to face the teens who ran up to her. Her skin was pale, far paler than usual. Iris is naturally a very pale person, her skin was a pleasantly creamy white that was clear and beautiful. Now, her skin had a glow to it that did not look healthy. There were also small purple bags under her eyes that didn't help her friends' worry for her.

Iris turned to them slowly and just scowled lightly at them, though it looked more like a grimace, "what do you want?" Her words were weak and quite quiet, and it sounded like she was somewhat hesitant to say them. Though there was no denying the hint of venom in her words that dripped onto the floor.

Her three concerned friends shared a look with each other. "We came looking for you, Iris, you've been acting really weird." James commented calmly, "we're worried about you, that's all."

"I'm fine." She bit out harshly, "I thought I told you to stop worrying about me. It's pathetic." Her hazy eyes glanced quickly at the shaggy-haired boy in the small group. Sirius couldn't help himself from flinching at the jab that was obviously meant for him. He was worried for a pretty good reason. Even though Iris is saying that he, and the others, don't need to worry about her and her wellbeing, he was still going to feel that pit in his stomach weighing him down until he knew that she was truly fine. He knew that he would have this feeling inside of him for a while.

James shook his head in disbelief, "we're allowed to be worried, Iris. We know something's wrong 'cause you've been hanging around the likes of Regulus and Lucius."

Iris just scowled at him, "what's so strange about me hanging with them?"

"Don't be serious, Iris!" Sirius exclaimed and flinched slightly at the heated glare that was now focused on him, "you hate those two, remember?"

The redhead scoffed weakly and clenched her jaw, "what if I've changed my mind?" It almost appeared as it pained her to say those words.

"How can you change your mind!"

None of them believed that Iris could change her opinion on the Slytherin so quickly. It would take more than a few decades for Iris to even budge on her opinion of those boys. She preached about how idiotic, annoying, dark, and cruel the pair are. She hated how Severus hung around them and, in her own way, showed her concern for her puedo-brother being around such people.

Lily just shook her head at Iris in disbelief and tried to keep her voice level and the atmosphere calm. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Waiting," she simply looked away from them with a blank expression. It was as if she thought herself better than the rest of them from the way she lifted her nose in the air.

Each of their eyebrows furrowed. "For what?"

"For us." The trio turned to find their least favorite people standing behind them.

Trotting down the corridor confidently were the three snakes that the Gryffindors had the thought of attacking. The smugness around them just about choked the three of them as they stood there glowering at the opposing trio.

"Lovely to see you three," Lucius sneered as they came over to stand near Iris. It was an uncomfortable exchange to watch Regulus place himself right next to the girl who stood completely still. If her friends weren't paying attention they wouldn't have noticed the way that Iris' eyes twitched and began to smolder with a hatred which was swiftly smothered in a matter of milliseconds.

"Are they bothering you, princess."

Sirius was enraged to hear those words from his younger brother's mouth. "No. We weren't." He stressed, "we're talking to our friend, I don't know why you're here."

Regulus clicked his tongue, "we came to get our favorite redhead and bring her somewhere I'm sure she'll enjoy."

"Oh?" James stepped up to Regulus to the point where they were toe-to-toe and chest-to-chest, "where exactly?"

Lucius pushed James back by his shoulder harshly, "I'd step back if I were you, Potter."

James pushed back against him, "or what, Malfoy? What're you going to do?"

Lily grabbed James' arm before he could lash out at the blonde teen and get into trouble. That was the last thing they needed. "I think we should just calm down, right?" She looked to Iris with calculating eyes. She kept her voice clear, calm, and slow like she was talking to a small child to get her to understand. "Iris, I want to talk to you, okay. So we're going to our dorm."

Iris stared at her a moment before speaking up, "you don't tell me what to do." Her friends stared at her as if she had gone mad. "I want to stay here."

Sirius was beyond enraged, "stay? With them? Have you gone mad, Iris!?" It was so concerning to him that she seemed so content in their presence. It was unsettling to see her so lax and eerily calm around Regulus and Lucius. He expected her to be relaxed around Severus, due to them having been friends for such a long time, but not around the other two Slytherins. Severus himself stood behind his housemates and kept his eyes sight down to the ground. He looked like a lost, sick puppy who had no idea what to do. There was fear painted on his face but none of the Gryffindors could really tell if it was fear due to the situation or something else.

"Maybe she was mad to be friends with you, Sirius," Regulus had the audacity to comment with a smirk. "Did you ever think of that?"

Sirius didn't have the chance to respond, none of them did. Instead, in seemingly a way to prove his point, Regulus grabbed Iris' cheek and brought her into a kiss. It was awkward as Iris' body was stiff and not completely responsive to the action, but that didn't mean it didn't enrage her friends.

Lily grimaced at the sight and just about vomited because of it. She has seen her sister kiss many boys before but none were as repulsive as Regulus Black. James was disgusted and angered by it. He didn't like to see one of his best friends, someone who he may view as like a sister to him, kissing a boy like Regulus. Now, Sirius… Well, Sirius had the biggest reaction to the sight of his brother kissing the redhead.

He saw red. Plain and simple. His mind just empty and there was really only one thought on his mind at that moment. That was to pull the two of them apart and pummel his brother into the ground. Which is exactly what he tried to do.

He tried to launch himself at his brother, however, he was held back by James and Lily. The two of them wanted to pull them away as well but knew that Sirius was definitely going to do it far more violently. It wasn't that they weren't as passionate about getting Iris away from Regulus. It was just that Sirius view Iris as more than a friend, a possible girlfriend. To see some other boy, especially his brother, kissing his girl just caused an intense amount of rage to consume him.

James and Lily did their best to hold back Sirius who fought against their holds and desperately wanted to attack his brother. They watched as Iris and Regulus pulled away from their kiss. Iris was completely dazed with glossy eyes as she appeared to not even register what was happening to her. She was stiff and barely responsive, which pissed the Gryffindors off immensely. At the sight of Regulus' smug, yet slightly disgusted, face, James and Lily couldn't hold Sirius back.

He jumped at Regulus and effortlessly grabbed him by his color and threw him away. Regulus grunted as his back was roughly pushed against a stone wall and the wind was knocked out of him. Even though there was a slight pain in his back, he flashed his brother a satisfied smirk.

"Jealous brother?"

That broke Sirius. He didn't care if he got into trouble. He just punched Regulus hard on his cheek. Regulus reeled back at the harsh punch and hissed in pain. Sirius then pulled out his wand and pointed it at Regulus' throat with a dark expression.

He let out a deep growl from the back of his throat, "give me one reason why I shouldn't hex you right now."

"You'll upset your dear mudblood."

Sirius took the bait and glanced over his shoulder to look at Iris. Her expression was still pretty much expressionless, though her eyes were lit with a mix of emotion. He could only catch anger, concern, and confusion before he was blown away from Regulus.

"Stupefy!"

Sirius was blown back from his position and flew across the corridor. He groaned once he hit the opposite wall and landed on the ground in a heap. There was a moment of silence between the teens in the corridor before Lucius broke out into sick laughter.

Lily and James ran over to their friend's side to try and make sure that he was okay. Regulus, however, just straightened his clothing as his small pose walked over to him. As Lily and James fussed over Sirius, Iris came over to stand in front of them. Her shadow was cast over them which caused them all to look up at her.

Sirius' eyesight was slightly blurry due to his head having hit the wall quite hard, but he could clearly see Iris' blank expression. Her lips were pulled into a tight line and her eyes were narrowed in what Sirius thought was anger. Why she was angry was beyond any of them, however, this was probably just because of her strange behavior.

"Don't try to talk to me again," her tone was bland and aloof and held no conviction whatsoever, "we aren't friends anymore." She tore the silver moon necklace from her neck, much to the horror of Sirius. The chain broke with a sickening snap as Iris flinched slightly at her movements. With the underlay of regret in her eyes, she threw the necklace down at Sirius's chest and turned away from him. With that, Regulus waltzed up to her side and slung an arm over her shoulder. Iris visibly flinched at the gesture and appeared to try and stay in her place, but Regulus just pulled her away when she used a little bit of strength to stay put. Iris' eyes lingered on the group of her former friends before Regulus forced her to turn away.

Lily, James, and Sirius watched them go reluctantly with anger bubbling up in their chests. There was no point in continuing the fight between Sirius and Regulus. Sirius was already dazed and most likely confused and may have a concussion after that hit to the head. With fleeting wicked smiles, the group of four disappeared around the corner to wherever it is that they wanted to take Iris.

"I don't care what I have to do," Sirius groaned and sat up properly on his own. He held his head in pain but that was the least of his worries, "but I'm going to find out what they did to Iris." That was a testament that was easily shared between the three of them. They all had a murderous rage within them aimed at Regulus, Lucius, and Severus. All the while he held the necklace tight in his hands.


	19. Making Things Right

**THE STALE, STILL AIR SUFFOCATED THE THREE** girls who had huddled themselves up in the back corner of the library. Piles of books reached toward the ceiling as parchment was scattered across the small table like confetti and ink painting nearly every inch of paper. Ink also was brushed up against the hands and fingers of each of the girls who were beyond tired. 

Curfew was creeping up on them quite quickly and soon enough they were going to have to head to their dorm. They would love to have more time in the library to continue their research, however, none of them would want to upset Madam Pince. Said woman was currently keeping an eye on the girls to make sure that they leave soon. There was no doubt that the strict librarian would start to nag and berate the girls to leave and head to their dorm soon.

As soon as their classes let out for the day, Lily, Marlene and Wendy had rushed to the library to work on their research about Iris. Each had taken their own notes with observations about Iris’ behavior and had set on pooling them together to find a singular cause to her behavior. Yet there wasn’t much they could find.

Marlene had just about been fried out by the amount of work she had to do. Her brain was smoking due to how hard she had been working to figure out what was wrong with Iris. Wendy was tired and had a hard time trying to keep her eyes open. They had spent a good few hours in the library which caused them to become tired beyond belief. Lily was just plain frustrated. Out of all of their notes, they couldn’t find anything!

Iris exhibited a select few of different behaviors that the girls could unanimously agree on. There was a shift in her personality, she had become far more submissive, and she had become friendly with the Slytherins. Wendy had suggested that Iris may have been put under a love enchantment or perhaps a love potion, but neither Lily or Marlene were sure. A love potion or enchantment causes an obsession. If Iris really was under the influence of such strong magic, Iris would be obsessed with one of the Slytherins.

Lily constantly reminded the other two that Iris sometimes appeared confused and angry, like she was questioning what she was doing. That most likely meant that whatever she was under wasn't that strong and she was able to break through slightly. If it was weak, then that meant it would be easier to break. When it came to spells or charms, Lily had commented, she knew that it would be quite easy for her to break them. She didn’t brag at all, but she is the top student in charm and transfigurations, after all. If Iris was being affected by a potion it was going to be a tad bit harder to break. 

With the combination of all of their knowledge and skill, they were going to have a hard time figuring out what exact potion Iris may be under the influence. Then it would be even harder to break. And if it was a concoction that the Slytherins had made themselves, then things would be significantly more difficult for them. They were certainly going to need help from someone if it really was a potion!

Wendy let a loud sigh out through her nose, “come on, Lily. We better get going.”

Lily shook her head, “no, we need more time.” She started, “the more time we spend researching, the faster we can find out what’s happening to Iris.”

“That’s true,” Marlene yawned, “but I’d rather not have to deal with Madam Pince right before I go to bed, I’ll have nightmares for the rest of the week if she yells at us to get out.” The brunette shuddered at that thought. The three girls spared a quick glance at the strict woman to find her staring at them as well with narrowed eyes down her long, skinny nose. 

“Come on, Lily,” Wendy started as she gathered her parchment and quills, “we’re no help to Iris if we have no energy to do anything.”

The redhead bowed her head in resignation as she understood Wendy’s reasoning. However, she didn’t like it that much! She would much rather spend every hour of every day to work on their research. Lily just knew that they were getting close to figuring out what was wrong with Iris. _Only a little bit more_, she would mutter to herself. Wendy did have a point, however, and that slightly frustrated Lily.

Lily bit the inside of her cheek, “alright, it is getting pretty late, I guess.”

The girls then started to pack their things up and head for the exit. They passed by Madam Pince who called out in a shrill, strict voice, “get to your dorm, girls!” 

Their trek back to the Gryffindor tower was completely uneventful. The girls just trudged their way through the corridors sluggishly as their exhaustion started to catch up with them. Perhaps they should have left the library earlier, but they needed to get as much research done as they could. Trying to help figure out what was wrong with Iris will be worth sacrificing a little bit of sleep.

Marlene was just about to collapse due to her tiredness and had to use Lily and Wendy as crutches. While the two girls were making sure that their friend didn’t tumble over her own feet, they themselves were trying to keep their eyes open.

The trio of girls soon made it through the winding corridors and up the constantly changing grand staircase to the Gryffindor tower. As they approached the entrance to the common room, the guardian of the haven of the brave woke up at their arrival. The Fat Lady groggily stared at the girls with a tired, grumpy expression on her plump face. “Password?”

“Dilligrout,” Lily sighed.

The stout painting nodded her head and allowed the portrait to swing open. Just as the girls were trying to enter the common room and find comfort in the warm familiar walls, four boys came bumbling out of the entrance and bumped into them. The seven of them nearly all fell on top of each other in a pile of limbs.

They were just able to catch themselves at the last moment and all of their eyes landed on the other group. The girls weren’t that all surprised to see the Marauders sneaking out of the common room right before curfew. They’ve known them long enough to not question why the boys snuck out at night as just about everyone knew that they did it. 

“Huh?” Wendy yawned out once she caught her footing, “where are you lot going?”

The group of boys shared a quick glance with each other. “Just out,” James huffed out as he tried to hold his invisibility cloak behind him. His tone certainly didn’t give the girls any confidence in them not doing anything bad tonight. Yet the group of boys always get into trouble after curfew, so the girls weren’t that suspicious about their actions. The question was how were they going to get into trouble this time.

Lily was deadpan, “it’s never “_just out_” for you guys.”

“Don’t go after the Slytherins yet!” Marlene exclaimed with the last bit of energy she had. 

Sirius tried to scoff as if offended, “_what?_ We weren’t going to do that!”

Lily stared at them tiredly, “sure. Just make sure that you don’t get into trouble. We’re close to finding what’s wrong with Iris. I know it.”

The atmosphere around them dipped slightly as they were reminded of the situation surrounding one of their dear friends. It was one thing to think about going after the Slytherins, but it was another to think about _why_ they were going after them and what they had done.

“Don’t worry, Lily,” James started off with a softness to his voice that he rarely ever used, “we’ll stop this.”

Lily stared at him with her tiredness and frustration on display like usual. However, there was an understanding that she had with the insufferable boy who had been bothering her since they first met. Lily could see that James wanted to help Iris just as much as she did. James is one of Iris’ best friends, it’s expected for him, and the other boys, to want to set everything back to normal. Yet for James, the look in his eyes seemed to mirror that of Lily’s. It was like James was also trying to help his sister. That fact warm Lily’s heart, though she was not going to admit that in the slightest.

The redhead cleared her throat, “well, we best be off to bed, don’t stay out too late.” She briskly walked past the boys and into the common room so she could bury herself into her bed. The only unsettling thing about that was that Iris wouldn't be bugging her as she did so. Even though it’s been a few days, Lily can say that she missed her sisters whining and bickering quite a bit. To just enter the dorm and see her sister sleeping silently and calmly would be heart wrenching. 

The other girls bid the boys a sluggish goodbye and followed after their friend as they too were ready to head to bed. The boys waved them off and waited for the portrait hole to close before they walked hastily away from any of the portraits prying eyes. Once the coast was clear, James pulled the invisibility cloak out from behind his back and they all huddled up underneath it. They disappeared from sight and started to creep their way through the corridors in search of anything(or anyone) that could help them in their quest to help Iris.

* * *

Severus fiddled with his fingers as he paced in the dark, empty corridor. His mind was running rampant as constant reminders swirled around in his head like a hurricane. _It’s your fault Iris is hurt_. A venom-filled voice hissed in the back of his head, _you helped Regulus and Lucius, which makes you guilty!_

There was no denying that he played a part in the other Slytherins plans to take control of Iris, but he tried to justify that he had done it because he was forced to. That fact was true, but he could have done more to stop it. Severus could have gone to a professor and explained what was happening instead of brewing the potion. Or better yet, he could have just said no. However, ever the coward, Severus was too scared to say no to those two. His fear was the reason that his pseudo-sister was acting differently. It was his potion that caused her to act that way.

The Slytherin boy cursed himself quietly and moved to sit on the ground of the abandoned corridor. He needed to be alone for the time being as he contemplated what he should do. The Slytherin common room wasn’t the most inviting place, but there were a lot of snakes who liked to hang out at night in the cold room. His dorm was no better as the boys he shared a room with were quite nosy and demanding. Severus certainly didn’t feel like being bombarded with the slimy smiles and hissing words of his housemates at the moment. They didn’t need to know about his internal conflicts. So risking being caught by a prefect out in the corridors was worth his self-loathing.

He let out a long sigh as he let his head fall into his hands and slumped against the wall. The guilt was eating him from the inside as it had been for most of this year. The feeling was bubbling in his stomach and boiling him from the inside. Severus was at his wit's end and it was only a matter of time before he exploded. As he focused on his own degrading, reprimanding thoughts, he didn’t notice the sound of footsteps approaching him. 

The shuffling of fabric also was unheard by the conflicted boy as he was too consumed by his own thoughts. Though the presence of four large shadows surrounding him did earn his attention. Much to his horror, the Marauders loomed over him with sharp eyes that stabbed his pale skin with malicious intent.

Growing frantic at his bullies' arrival, he clumsily stood up to face the four boys in front of him with wide eyes. From how their eyes tried to pin him to the wall, Severus knew that he was in for a horrible interaction. He could see the murderous intentions that they each had for him, and Severus had an idea why. It was unclear to him whether or not they were just looking at him like this because they detest his existence or because they knew about what he had done to Iris. Honestly, It could have been both.

“Snivellus,” Sirius hissed out as he stood over the teenager with his grey eyes swirling like a hurricane. “You’re just the person we were looking for.” He shared a glance with his friends that mirrored his savage appearance.

It took everything within Severus’ power to keep himself from trembling and showing his weakness. Yet it was pretty obvious that they knew he was physically weak. That meant that they had no trouble cornering him in the deserted corridor by the dungeons. Where were the prefects?! Severus was desperately hoping that one would turn the corner and see what was happening. He didn’t care if he got into trouble for being out late, anything would be better than having to face these imbeciles, in his opinion.

“I am?” Severus squeaked in fear.

James slowly nodded his head in agreement as the lenses of his glasses caught the dim light of the torch nearby and the reflection caused him to look even more frightening. “We want to know what Regulus and Malfoy did to Iris.” The way he gritted his teeth together just displayed how furious he was.

Severus couldn’t help himself but sigh internally in relief. They didn’t know. They had no clue that Severus had much to do with Iris’ weird behavior. Though he still gulped loudly at the looks they still had trained on him. Even mousy, pudgy Peter looked somewhat vicious! Severus truly was pathetic if he was frightened by a boy like Peter Pettigrew.

“We’ll ask nicely first because we are gentlemen after all,” Sirius said cooly. “So tell us and you won’t find yourself hanging from the ceiling by your ears.”

Severus knew that they could cash in on that threat if they wanted to. He has been tormented by them since first year, he knew what they were capable of and were willing to take the punishment for it. 

He started to fumble with his words, “I-I don’t, I-”

“Don’t try to deny that you don’t know.” Remus seethed, “we know you and the other two must have done something to her, and we want it reversed.”

Severus licked his lips, “if I do know something, why would I tell you?”

It was an understandable question to ask. The Marauders never treated Severus with respect as a fellow classmate or even a normal person for that matter. Severus really was only a plaything that they could use every once in a while when they had nobody else to torment. Why would he, the toy, want to disclose any information to them about the well-being of his sister-like friend? Iris was a mutual friend between them all, yes. However, Severus certainly wouldn’t want the Marauders bumbling around her and possibly making it worse… That is, if he knew nothing about what was happening to her.

He knew exactly what to do to help her and put her back to normal. And the Marauders were just the people to help him do that. Yet he needed to put on a show to make it look like he didn’t trust them. If he eagerly tried to get them to help then it would look suspicious to everyone. Severus didn’t want Lily or Iris to know about his involvement in this, or at least as little as possible. He was already in deep shit with the both of them, and he wanted to try and fix the relationship they had. If that meant lying to them one last time, then so be it.

James sighed, “listen, Snivellus. We all know that we… care about Iris. She's our _friend_. If you don’t want to help her then I guess you’re proving to us that you aren’t really her friend.” James’ logic sounded completely understandable to him. If only he knew what thoughts were actually going through Severus’ mind right now.

All he could do was thank Merlin that the Marauders had presented him with the perfect opportunity. Oh, his luck was just beginning.

Severus turned away from them and bowed his head, to make it look like her submitting to them as he has always done in the past. “If I tell you, are you sure you can help Iris?”

“Yes,” Sirius said quickly with a hint of desperation on his tongue. “I’d do anything to make sure she was okay.” ‘I’ not ‘we’. Sirius was certainly taking what had happened to Iris personally. Considering his brother was involved, it may actually be personal.

“Okay,” Severus sighed slowly through his nose, “but you have to not tell Regulus or Lucius, they’ll kill me if they know I’m telling you this.”

James scoffed, “and we’d kill you if you didn’t. So tell us.”

“Regulus had this plan,” Severus began, “after he met Iris and saw that her and Sirius were close, he wanted to do something about it.” He could feel the atmosphere becoming thicker with each word he tried to say. “He talked with Lucius and they wanted to use Iris. I-I don’t know what for, but it was bad… that’s all I know.”

“What did they do to her?” Remus asked with a sense of horror-filled fascination.

Severus gulped, “they used a potion… I don’t know where they got it from,” he took a quick glance at them to see if they may have caught him lying but saw no indication of it. “But whatever it was, they had me give it to her multiple times-”

Sirius became enraged, “you helped them with this?!” James, Remus, and Peter had to hold him back. They were furious with him too, but they wanted to get as much information as they could before they started to beat him up.

The other teen coward away slightly and continued on, “they forced me to! Said they would hurt me, Iris and Lily, if I didn’t help them! I had to!” Sirius stopped fighting against his friends to let him continue but did let up on his glare in the slightest bit. “It was the perfume that she was using, that’s the potion.”

“And you don’t know who brewed it?” James asked.

Severus didn’t hesitate, “no. They just gave it to me to give it to her. They said that it would make her more submissive, more compliant to them and nobody else.”

Sirius scoffed, “so it’s like a love potion.”

“Not completely.” He shook his head, “she isn’t in love with either of them, but she will do what they say.”

“It’s like the imperius curse,” Peter breathed out in horror. There was no telling what those slimy snakes could do with a potion like that. This had become even far more serious than previously thought. The silence was thick as they digested that information. A moment passed as the Marauders shared glances with each other every once in a while as if they were having a silent conversation.

“What do we do?” James broke the stillness with his question.

Honestly, the group of teenage boys was drawing a blank about the questions. What _were_ they going to do? With a potion as strong as this they were definitely going to need more help than just their little friend group. Even if they wanted to act as though they could handle this situation by themselves it was going beyond their capability. Each of them was smart in their own ways and could contribute what they could to the solution… however, there was a limit to what they could do. 

Sirius clenched his jaw in frustration, “we curse those snakes for what they’ve done and fix Iris.” A swell of determination swept of the group, including Severus, as they agreed with that statement. They’d do whatever they would have to do in order to make sure that Iris was safe again. No matter what happened.

“It’s weak,” Severus suddenly piped up.

“What? The group asked simultaneously.

He clarified, “the potion. Whoever made it, didn’t seem to make it that strong which means-”

“That it can be easily undone,” Remus breathed out. “With the right antidote, we could undo the effects that it has on Iris!”

That certainly was an optimistic fact.

* * *

Morning rolled around as it normally did during the school year. The only real difference was the fact that Iris had gotten out of her bed robotically like she had for the past few days and exited the dorm as fast as she could. She made it out before any of her friends(It didn’t matter that she may have said that they weren’t friends anymore, she was under the influence of something that made her act strange. By the girl’s perspective, they were still friends with Iris, not matter was she may be forced to say.) could stop her. It is now Tuesday and Iris has been acting strangely for just about four days.

Four boring, bland days of Iris trying to avoid her friend and sister as she was constantly hanging around the Slytherins every chance she could. It was four days too long for just about everyone’s liking. Now, even the other students had noticed the change in behavior and mood. The Gryffindor common room, even though it was still covered in its bright red and golden yellow, was dull now that one of the most rambunctious and loud house members was quiet and sullen.

Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins were slightly put off by Iris Evans sudden change in personality. Three out of the four houses found it to be concerning and questionable while the other (Slytherin, no surprise there) found it to be just disgusting that a muggle-born like Iris has been keeping herself busy with their own kind. Regulus and Lucius were questioned by their fellow housemates as to why they were hanging around that “annoying mudblood”. They would only smirk in reply and swiftly walk away from them, not giving them any sort of answer. However, things were starting to approach the breaking point. 

Even though Iris was still submissive and did what Regulus and Lucius wanted, she was starting to rebel. In her own way, of course. She was starting to become aware of her actions and surroundings! Every once in awhile, Iris would make a sudden outburst. Whether she was talking to someone or not, it didn’t matter. It was mainly insults or snark jokes that were pointed towards the Slytherins who now had taken her hostage. That always earned her a threat and, on occasion, a slap. Though the more physical reprimanding mainly came from Lucius. The seventh-year had a far shorter temper than Regulus did. Despite her best efforts, Iis wasn’t able to break free of the hold that the potion had on her. 

Meanwhile, as Iris made her way to the Great Hall to meet with her captives, the boys were recounting their experience the other night with the girls.

“You did what to him?!” Lily raged as she stood before the boys with ruby cheeks and a heated glare.

The boys jumped slightly at her sudden outburst of anger, “we did what we had to do to get him to talk.” Sirius justified their actions shakily. He completely stood behind their actions about intimidating and bullying Severus until he talked, but Lily was such a scary woman. Sirius just couldn’t help the slight tremor in his words. His eyes focused on her as she stood in front of them as the Black Lake shined behind her. The group had found a secluded area around the lake’s edge in order to talk freely about their situation. All of them had sat down in a circle but as soon as the boys had started to explain what Severus had told them, Lily had stood up and started to pace.

Lily huffed, “I don’t care what you got, you didn’t have to _threaten_ him like that!”

“Lily,” Remus started off calmly, “you know that I don’t like the way they did it either, but it got the results we wanted. We know how to undo the potion that’s affecting Iris.” The optimistic tone in his voice didn’t go unnoticed by anyone. If Remus, undoubtedly one of the smartest of the group, knew that they could do something, then it might actually happen.

The redhead went silent as she digested his words. They could fix Iris and get her back to normal. This was it! They were going to get their friend back. She was going to get her sister back. However….

“How do we know that we can trust Severus?” Marlene exclaimed, “you said that he had helped them, why wouldn’t he do it now?”

Lily went rigid at the mention of Severus. She couldn’t deny the fact that Severus had helped them. Though according to him, he had been forced to do it after he, herself, and Iris had been threatened. She should just trust the words that Severus had told the Marauders because they have been friends for so long. However, there was still a nagging feeling in the back of her skull telling her that something was wrong. Since he helped cause this terrible thing to befall Iris, then who’s to say that he wouldn’t lie again.

Wendy rubbed her chin in thought, “But why would he lie? He’s been friends with Iris for a long time… He couldn’t just completely forget about the years of friendship that they had. Right, Lily?”

Silence was the only response they got as she seemingly tried to gather her thoughts on the matter. They all turned to her as she stopped her pacing and turned to stare out at the calm lake waters. She had to push her feelings and suspicions about Severus aside. He gave them a lot of useful information about the situation. They knew next to nothing about what was going on before, so they had no other choice but to believe Severus’ words.

“We’ll get the perfume,” she started, “we’ll start on that antidote and give it to her as soon as possible.”

The redhead's words were strong and determined. It was obvious to the group that there was no arguing with her about her decision. Though it’s not like they were going to anyway, they agreed with her wholeheartedly. They all stood up hastily and gathered themselves. 

Sirius nodded his head, “come on then.” The group started to make their way towards the castle quite quickly. None of them were going to waste any time that they had to get an antidote to Iris.

* * *

Lily groaned slightly in frustration as she placed down her well-used quill. The group had spent the better part of their free period trying to decipher how to undo the potion that had been disguised as a perfume. Wendy and Remus had been helping Lily scour as many books about potions that they could find in the library. Yet there wasn’t much for them to find! Of course, since they needed to go to the library, Sirius, James, Marlene, and Peter had opted to head back to the Gryffindor common room and wait. Which was just as nerve-wracking as it was boring.

The different arrays of dusty, ancient books covered the tables that they had commandeered for their research. Only a little bit of progress had been made about the antidote and that was starting to upset the trio of researchers. With their combined knowledge, they were able to identify a few of the ingredients, but even then it was only a few. They weren’t even sure if they were the correct ones. 

When it comes to potions, there are so many ingredients that are similar in color, smell, and effect that it can be hard to definitively identify everything. Especially when it was already put into a potion! The only way that they were going to get a definitive list of ingredients is if they spoke to the one who brewed the potion itself. That certainly wasn’t going to happen considering they don’t know who made it.

Remus sighed and placed down the book that he had his head buried in, “I think that there’s either alihotsy in this potion or a lot of dittany. I can’t really tell.” He ran a hand down his scar ridden face in exasperation.

“Come on guys,” Wendy said optimistically, “we’ve found a few of the ingredients, we must be able to make some sort of antidote for Iris.”

“Maybe,” Remus commented, “but there’s no telling if it would be an antidote or make her symptoms worse.”

Lily placed her head on the table and closed her eyes tightly, “so we may never get this done?” They were silent for a moment as nobody wanted to say the obvious. The odds were stacked against them. There was no possible way that they could get an antidote brewed with only a few of the ingredients. Iris was not going to get their help.

“We could just go to a professor,” Remus started, “they would probably be able to fix whatever happened and punish Regulus and Lucius.”

Lily nodded her head, “Madame Pomfrey will definitely give Iris some medicine to help her. Professor Slughorn probably has a better idea of figuring out this potions…”

“But you know that neither Sirius or James will want to do that.” Wendy said knowingly.

Lily scoffed lightly, “their pride wouldn’t allow them!”

“Why not do both?” The three of their heads turned to face the voice that had spoken. 

Severus stood with his back hunched and head bowed. The nervousness that surrounded him was noticeable to each of the other teens. He played with his fingers and the ends of his sleeves as he tried to distract himself from his own anxiety. It had taken a lot of convincing himself, but he had finally worked up enough courage to go looking for any of the Gryffindors Iris and Lily were friends with. He had already helped the Marauders just a little bit by talking to them in the corridors the other night. However, he knew that he needed to do more if he wanted to make sure that Iris was saved.

Finding Lily would definitely be one way to do that.

The eyes of the Gryffindors in front of him pierced his skin like daggers. He honestly was starting to regret going out to find her. Severus could only thank his lucky stars that neither James or Sirius were around. Then again, they could be lurking around the corner somewhere in the shadows waiting to pounce on him like the dangerous lions they are.

“Severus?” Lily asked in confusion as a hint of suspicion laced her tongue.

He glanced up at her to see if she was glaring at him as heatedly as Remus and Wendy. The redheads pale face was the perfect representation of conflict. It was obvious to him that she wasn’t relieved to see him, yet she also wasn’t repulsed at his presence. That was a good thing.

“H-Hi, Lily,” he cleared his throat, “I want to help with… whatever I can.”

The three Gryffindors shared a quick glance with each other. Within that short time, it seemed like they were having a silent conversation with each other. It was obvious that each of them were skeptical about his presence and whether he actually wanted to help. However, it seemed like Lily was more optimistic than the other two. Her eyes gleamed with something that was trying to convince the other two to at least hear him out. Severus could really appreciate her for that… when she should really be yelling at him for what he has done. She should be hitting him and forcing him to leave her alone after everything he has done.

Lily’s forest-green eyes finally turned back to Severus, “you want to help?”

The teen nodded his head vigorously, “yes, I want to help.” He tried to keep his gaze and voice as genuine as possible. “I want to help Iris.” That statement certainly helped convince the group even more that Severus was sincere. 

Remus was a tad bit more unsure about the situation. “Regulus and Lucius didn’t send you here, have they?”

Severus shook his head, “no. If they did, I would tell you. I don’t want to do what they say. I don’t want to be scared anymore.”

The greasy-haired teens passionate words helped his case even more. After one final glance, the Gryffindors came to a conclusion. 

“Then help us,” Wendy commented and gestured to the books in front of them. “You’re good a potions, right?” There was no denying that Severus Snape was known to be very talented with the subject and considering they were seriously lacking some knowledge, they needed his help. 

Yet they didn’t know that they had the creator of the potion right in front of them. Though it’s not like they needed to know that, in Severus’ opinion.

Lily spoke for him, “he’s one of the top students!”

Severus smiled at the fact that she still spoke about him highly. He knew that Lily was angry with him after what had happened months ago with him and Iris. If someone had done the same thing to his sibling, he would hold a grudge like them. Yet now, it seemed like she was going to be nice to him. He knew that she wanted to fix their relationship after this troubling year, and Lily must think that working together on this will help that. 

They invited him to sit at the table which he took as a good sign. Yes, it didn’t seem like they were completely warm to the idea of him being there. However, it didn’t seem like they had any other choice. Despite what they may want, this was a necessity to ensure that they were able to help Iris. The Gryffindors were just glad that their loudmouthed, annoying friends weren’t here to object to this. 

The boys may have gone to Severus to get help the other night, however, it’s not like they would allow Severus to get any closer to their investigation and plans to help Iris. They couldn’t trust him. Especially after what he has done to their friend already and lies he’s told. It was a natural thing to do. 

With Severus’ help, the group of four were able to identify just about every ingredient in the potion. In turn, they were able to brew an antidote quite quickly! It may have taken them most of the day and missing out on dinner, but it would be worth missing out on. Things were definitely starting to look more optimistic than the other day. 

The group had made the antidote in a generous amount just to make sure that they had enough for her. Though the potion was weak already, according to Severus, it wouldn’t take that much of the antidote to fix Iris. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Lily couldn’t help the smile from crawling onto her face. “We actually did it,” she breathed out and stared at the bottle full of the murky potion. Her enthusiasm was infectious and spread across the group. They started to speak excitedly about finally getting their friend back to normal as they collected their things. 

Severus watched them walk towards the exit of the library. He was an outsider to their little friend group and didn’t think that he should intrude on their conversation. Though he had to admit that he was happy with this outcome. As he watched Lily’s expression become brighter as the tension and desperation started to slide off of his face, Severus was happy. He may have been a cause of this, but he certainly wanted to fix it. This was going to do just that. He did what he had to do.

He gazed after them as they disappeared around a corner no doubt to tell others what had happened. Severus could only hope that he wasn’t punished by Regulus and Lucius for this. He wanted to try and avoid any sort of confrontation, no matter who it was from. Though he wasn’t sure what was worse, facing the wrath of the Marauders, Regulus and Lucius, or Lily. 

Lily. By far, the redhead can be one of the scariest people Severus has ever met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting closer, my friends.


	20. A Dramatic Conclusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH! LAST CHAPTER OF THIS STORY! I hope that this conclusion isn't terrible. Fair warning, I'm horrible at writing action sequences and such. Like horrendously bad. Probably worse than I am at keeping a consistent update schedule. I planned on updating this last week, but that didn't go to plan. Sorry about that. Anyway, onto the last chapter!

**HURRIED FOOTSTEPS ECHOED IN THE STONE CORRIDORS **as three excited Gryffindor fifth-years jogged down the long hallway looking for their friends. They had done it! They finished making an antidote for Iris and were more ready to give it to her. Of course, they had to credit Severus for his work in this plan and probably wouldn't have been able to do it without him.

Every once in a while, they shared exciting words and glances that obviously showed how relieved they were about this outcome. They knew that the others would be the same. The glass bottle full of a pale blue potion was secured in Lily's satchel. She didn't seem to be willing to let it go, as if she thought that it left her person it would disappear. However, it was completely understandable to her friends. She just wanted to make sure that she kept the antidote as safe as possible and get it to Iris as quickly as she could.

They nearly sprinted up the many different staircases towards the Gryffindor tower. They needed to find Iris! If she wasn't at their dorm or the common room, then they would have to get _everyone_ to help scour the school grounds for her. They were going to get this potion to her within the next hour or so. Even though the trio had been able to make the potion(with the help of Severus) there was no telling how quickly the potion would affect her.

There was a possibility that the potion would have an instant reaction and clear her mind of the influence over her body. Or the potion could take an undetermined amount of time to affect her. They could be waiting for hours, days, weeks, months before Iris was let go of the Slytherin's potion hold. That's why they needed to get it to her as soon as they could.

The group of rushed teens made it to the tower and told the disgruntled Fat Lady the password. They stumbled into the common room and were greeted by the sight of a few other Gryffindors who were minding their own business. Wendy straightened her clothes and hair in order to make it seem like she wasn't just sprinting across the castle. Remus ran a hand through his hair to the same. They didn't want to alert any of the other students that there was anything urgent happening. They had kept what had happened on the down-low and only those that they wanted to know knew about Iris' situation. However, Lily didn't care that her slightly round cheeks were pink or that her clothes were askew or that her hair was unruly. The idea of getting to Iris was more important than how she looked at the moment.

Remus turned to Lily, "the guys must be in our dorm." the redhead nodded her head in acknowledgment, "I'll go find them." He swiftly maneuvered through the room around fellow Gryffindors towards the stairs.

Wendy started to push Lily towards the dorms, "Marlene's probably in our dorm too, we've gotta get her."

The two of them headed up to their dorm and found Marlene lounged on her bed. Her eyes were half-lidded as it was obvious that she was trying to keep herself awake. She was trying to wait for her friends to get back and hear what they had to say. Sure, there was a possibility that she may have waited most of the night for them to get back. However, worry forced her to try and wait for them.

"Marlene!" Lily exclaimed while jumping over to her and starting to shake her shoulders. "Get up! Come on, we've got something!"

Marlene groggily allowed herself to be pulled out of her bed, "huh?"

"We've got it," Wendy said with a tone for optimism on her tongue. "We might have an antidote for Iris." That certainly got the girl to jump out of her bed. She stumbled around for a bit to get her bearings before the three of them ran down the stairs.

They ended up meeting the three boys at the end of the stairs. Sirius and James appeared to be jumping in place, obviously itching to get out of the room and search for Iris. Peter seemed to actually understand what was going on to an extent. His pudgy face displayed a far less confusing expression than usual. The four boys turned to the three girls and each exchanged hopeful looks.

Sirius just about jumped at Lily, "you have it?"

She nodded her head at the wide-eyed teen and patted her satchel with a giddy smile, "right here. Now, all we've got to do is find Iris."

* * *

"Remind me again why we're wasting our time with this mudblood?" Lucius drawled out boredly. He currently was laid out on a stone ledge in the front courtyard of the school. He spoke to Regulus with an air of annoyance and impatience as it was obvious he was quite cross. The older blond teen was the prime image of exasperation. His glare bounced between Regulus, who was sitting to his right, and the red-head mudblood who was standing against the ledge next to Regulus. She was gazing off into space with glassy brown eyes and her face was void of emotion.

If she hadn't been under the Slytherin's influence, she would have obviously not been this close to them. She'd have kept herself as far away as she could. The conflict of what she actually wanted and what a few intrusive thoughts were telling her contradicted highly. She honestly couldn't do anything as the two sides battled in her mind. It was, however, far better than completely conforming to the snakes. She was fighting against them little by little, or as best she could due to the circumstance. Gaining what little control she had left, caused her to grow exponentially quiet. She couldn't lash out against them verbally like she had done earlier in the day. However, she did what she could to regain her body from their slimy hands.

Regulus rolled his eyes at his ally and took a moment to lazily shift his gaze from Iris to Lucius. "I told you, this will help us in the long run, Malfoy." The bleach-blond teen continued to glower at him. "This potion is perfection. Forget using the imperious curse," he took the moment to brush a finger down Iris' pale cheek and didn't earn a flinch from her. "When word gets out of what we were able to do to her, a mudblood, I promise you we will be praised."

Lucius sat up to get a better look at Regulus and his triumphant expression. "By who?"

The younger boy clicked his tongue, "don't be daft, think for once. Not only will our own parents see what genius we have done but so will our Lord."

That statement certainly got Lucius' attention. "How do you know he'd care about what a child does, Black? He has far more important matters to attend to."

Their Lord, Lord Voldemort, was someone to fear and admire. A dark wizard who easily prayed on people's downfalls and achievements to benefit from them was the perfect leader for those who believed in blood purity. His catered to those who hated Muggle-born witches and wizards and the fact that those with pure blood had to associate with such dimwitted creatures. He had such power over the dark magic community! Other witches and wizards who had the same ideology as he obviously fell into step with him. He is their master. He will successfully give the magical world and the muggle world to those who deserve it. To those who only have pure blood running through their veins.

To think that he would be impressed with the two of them was something that Lucius wanted so desperately. Not only was he determined to become a Death Eater soon, but he wanted to make sure that Voldemort knew who he is. His loyalty will be unparalleled to anyone else, for sure.

"He will," Regulus barked, "a potion such as this will help our Lord with a lot of things. I have no doubt that in a few years' time, he'll have full control. With the help of _us_, of course." There was also the unspoken topic of Severus. Considering he was the one who actually created the potion, he is the real reason that they were able to gain control of Iris. Though it wasn't like they were going to let the half-blood get any of the credit. They would take any opportunity to get notoriety amongst the blood purity community.

The two of them started to chuckled amongst themselves sickly. If Iris could, she would have cringed at the sound of it. Though now that she thought about it, she was starting to feel her throat unclogged. The sticky, unpleasant feeling in her throat was starting to ease up just slightly. She had felt it before as it usually meant that there was an opening for her to break through her foggy mind a little. It only ever resulted in her spitting out an insult and then a backhand to the cheek, but dame did it alway feel satisfying to break free. Not only that, but she loved seeing those frustrated expressions on the two imbeciles when they saw that whatever they had done to her was falling apart.

"Come here, Evans," Regulus demanded as Iris was in her own thoughts trying to control herself. She didn't respond right away which earned her a harsh push from Regulus which easily gained her attention. She turned to his glare and returned it with a blank expression. "Can't you hear, mudblood."

Iris did not respond verbally. The internal battle within her own mind was more important than responding to a worthless piece of dung like him. Instead, she just turned to him and stared at him blankly.

Lucius tsked, "it still appears that there are some _flaws_ to the potion."

"I suppose," Regulus agreed and stood up so that he could get a better look at Iris. He appreciated her looks with a smug smirk as he grasped her pale cheek. "It's a shame that she's nothing but a mudblood. Such pretty looks went to waste on such a disgusting girl."

She kept herself from flinching away from his hold. Iris knew that if she did that, and showed that she had a tad bit more control than usual, then she would earn more than just a simple slap. There was no doubt in her mind that they would do something far more drastic to her if they knew. That only meant she would have to fight back.

"You have strange taste in women, Black," Lucius commented offhandedly. "I'm not surprised that you and Sirius are infatuated with the same girl."

Regulus spared him a short heated glance, "spare me your opinions." He turned back to Iris, "I suppose that she could have more than just one use, yes?"

Iris tried to keep herself at bay as Regulus pressed his lips against hers. His cold lips felt like acid on hers. Oh, Merlin. She wanted so badly to bite his lips to the point where they bled. He would certainly learn not to cross her ever again after that. Her eyes started to regain that light it once had. However, it wasn't like either of her kidnappers noticed as Regulus was too focused on the kiss and Lucius had turned away from the two in disgust. The haze in her mind disappeared even more as fight or flight hit her like a bludger. Using the element of surprise, and all of her energy, she abruptly pushed Regulus away and used what strength she had to punch him in the face.

Regulus stumbled back as his cheek started to sting and no doubt turn red from the contact. He recomposed himself as he and Lucius stood to stare at the half-lidded brown eyes of their prey. She tried to put as much distance as she could between her and them back backing up with shuffling steps.

She has finally done it!

She could no longer hear those whispers about the two of them and was no longer in the backseat of her own mind. Iris Evans has full control of her body once again.

Wasting no time, Iris dug into her pockets and pulled out her long wand and pointed it at her kidnappers. The standoff began between the trio. The snakes calculated their moves and also pulled out their wands to aim them at their former prisoner. It only took a few seconds for Lucius to spit out, "expelliarmus!"

Iris sluggishly moved out of the way just in time to yell out her own counterspell, "stupify!"

A duel between them kicked off and Iris made sure to try and keep herself alert. However, that was proving to be troublesome. As she dodged a spell from Regulus and maneuvered herself to some cover, she started to feel how drained she truly was. Breaking free of the potion(she now knew that it was a potion after the boys' constant talk about it) had drained her immensely. So much effort had been put into clearing her mind and getting the perfect opening to get out that she was now losing her strength to fight against them physically. Her adrenaline was running out now. Her knees were threatening to cave in on her as she leaned against a pillar to hide from the two boys.

A few more spells were thrown back and forth between the three. It was starting to become apparent that Iris was growing weak as she started to utter fewer spells as time went on. As she hid, she really didn't want to risk looking over behind her again. Not only was she scared shitless, but she was certain that she didn't have the strength to do it. Her tongue was getting tired of saying spells that had only started to tumble out of her mouth carelessly. They lost their punctuation and ferocity that Iris had a few minutes ago. She may have won against the potion, however, she was starting to grow too weak to do anything else.

She took the chance to peek out from behind her cover only to have a spell aimed straight at her. She was blown back a few feet and grew disoriented.

Lucius and Regulus huffed with hard glares on their faces. This certainly had taken a turn for the worst. And just as they were talking about actually going somewhere further with their plan! Oh, Lord. How upsetting things have become.

The two of them marched over to her with a murderous glint in their eyes and a snarl on their lips. Iris did not cower as her vision started to clear. Was she afraid? Yes, a little bit. However, it's not like she was going to show them that she was. She wouldn't let them see her shaky hands or the quiver in her lips. No. She'd be strong while she faced them. She'd be damned if she let them satisfy their sadistic needs with seeing her so vulnerable.

When the two approached, Lucius didn't waste time and kicked Iris' wand away from her to truly make her defenseless. In doing so, he also kicked her hand quite harshly and caused Iris to cry lightly in pain. The two Slytherin boys loomed over her as menacingly as they could with sharp eyes piercing her like knives. She groaned and sat up better to stare at them defiantly. Keeping up her brave and confident persona was important to her right now. They had gotten her to become so submissive and willing to just ditch her friends, so she wanted to show them that she was no longer under their control.

"You're right, Lucius," Regulus sneered, "there are _flaws_."

Iris moved slightly and found a wand at her jugular. Dull, beady blue eyes glared at her. "Try it, mudblood." Lucius threatened, "I have no issue using a curse." She believed him.

Gulping and seeing no way out, Iris resigned herself to slump back against the wall she had been blown back into. Honestly, she did what she could against them. She broke through their stupid potion and tried to hold her own against them, and she did what she could.

Two against one is certainly not the most ideal situation to be in. Especially when you were already so weak.

However, they certainly couldn't stop her from speaking.

She mustered her best sarcastic smirk, "fuck you, Malfoy." That earned her a very, very harsh slap to her cheek. Lucius was obviously beyond furious with her.

Not only did they seemingly waste their time with this filthy, stinking mudblood for so long, but the stupid potion doesn't even work properly! Regulus vowed to him that things would go to plan. For a small sliver of time, he believed it. Lucius actually believed that this little plan of his would work. Yet here he is, standing over their failure with half the mind to beat both Iris _and _Regulus. Why had Lucius put so much faith into this? He didn't even see the point of this until now! Really this was only a way for him to feed the sadistic craving that demanded to be satisfied. If it wasn't for this, he'd have found something that would have been just as satisfying and certainly not a failure in the end. Besides, why in Salazar's name had he decided to become allied with a young nuisance like Regulus Black?

Iris cradled her soon to be bruised cheek and turned away from them. Tears started to pool in the corners of her eyes. Would it be okay to cry? Should she cry? No. She'll save that for another time. Show no weakness.

"Why did I ever think that this would work?" Lucius spat out and turned to Regulus, yet kept his wand pointed at Iris.

The younger boy clenched his jaw and snapped his head towards the older boy. "Don't ask me, Malfoy, it was your decision to help. Now, what do we do with her?"

They were silent for a moment as they tried to come up with some options for themselves. There really wasn't much for them to do. One, they could leave Iris here and forget that this happened. However, they knew that she wouldn't shut up about this and they would end up in some sort of trouble. Two, they could torture Iris into staying quiet. They were certainly willing to use the cruciatus curse on her or anything that would keep her quiet.

Or… the more drastic measure would to just _kill _her.

Besides, it's not like anyone would truly notice the mudblood disappearance. Sure, the Marauders would moan about her being missing and that Regulus and Lucius might have had something to do with it. However, their claims would have to have no sort of evidence. That meant that they had to get rid of _everything_ concerning what they had done. Time to tie up some loose ends. The two shared a quick glance with each other that caused Iris' stomach to flip even more so than it already was. It seemed like the two sadistic boys were thinking of the same thing.

"Get her up," Regulus said as he and Lucius moved to roughly grab Iris' left arm while Lucius grabbed her right. They hauled Iris up to a position where they could drag her around. They needed to bring her somewhere far more secluded in order to… _dispose_ of their failure. Just as they started to pull her in the direction the lead to the Forbidden Forest, the echoing sound of footsteps came out of the castle.

Even more alarming for the two boys who had just decided they needed to _kill_ the poor girl, a voice started to speak. "She has to be outside," it was quite a recognizable voice, "We've looked all over the castle and she's not here."

Neither Lucius and Regulus wanted to admit that a shock of panic had shot up their spines. However, Iris was more than happy to start shouting all she could to get their attention.

"James!" She shouted the speaker's voice with a weak tone, "Siriu-"

"Shut up!" Lucius roared while smacking her upside the head as the two boys tried to get as far away as they could. Though that proved to be impossible when the footsteps picked up and headed in their direction.

Five students came running out of the entranceway of the castle and were both relieved and disgruntled at the sight before them. Though no one was as outraged as Sirius. He certainly detested the sight in front of him to his very core.

He didn't like the fact that Iris appeared to be so weak and how the two snakes kept such tight grips on her. Knowing her, she didn't like the fact that they had a hold on her like this. And that only fueled Sirius's rage.

Sirius, James, Remus, Lily, and Wendy all scowled at the trio across the courtyard. After souring the castle high and low, the group had not been able to find Iris. They had split up into small groups to look for her. Wendy and Remus headed down to the dungeons, Marlene and Peter ran to the highest towers of the school, and James, Sirius, and Lily checked every classroom they could find. The trio of concerned friends had run into Wendy and Remus at one point and explained to each other that they couldn't find any leads. Yet just as James had suggested looking outside, here they are. They finally found their friend/sister in the clutches of the sadistic snakes who most certainly had a death wish.

"Bastards!" Lily raged as she ripped out her wand and pointed at them with a spell on the tip of her tongue. The rest of the group followed her example and now the two kidnappers stared at five wands pointed in their direction.

Regulus growled at this disappointing turn of events and only saw one possible option that could get them out of this situation. Iris found herself completely terrified now that a wand was once again pointed at her neck. If anything, it was a large nuisance now because it was poking her neck and causing her even more discomfort.

"Step closer and I'll do something I won't regret!"

Lily froze at the threat against her sister but still didn't let the scowl on her pale face disappear. Seeing as these conniving little twats had gone this far with Iris there was no telling how far they would go now. She didn't doubt that they would willing hurt Iris or even kill her. Lily definitely didn't want to have her older sister killed.

The air was tense and still, as the collection of students came to a standoff. Neither group was willing to back down. The Gryffindors were going to stop at nothing until they got their friend back. First, they had to get Iris away from Regulus and Malfoy to make sure that she doesn't get even more hurt.

Sirius sneered at the two of them, more specifically his brother, "you're a coward, Regulus. Hiding behind Iris!"

"Shut it, blood traitor!" Was the reply that he got from his little brother. They were able to hear Iris curse under her breath as the boy's hold on her tightened. Sirius could just about see the smoke coming out of Regulus' ears. It was obvious that Regulus was upset about all of this, of course, not as upset at Sirius. However, the shaggy-haired teen could use this to their advantage. It wasn't usually common to get Regulus angry, like properly angry, so riling him up would certainly cause even more chaos that the Gryffindors could hopefully use to their advantage.

James joined in, "Yeah! Using her as a shield isn't very courageous, mate!"

"You're hiding like the snakes you are!"

At the yells, Regulus was growing restless. He found himself growing even more enraged by the shouts of abuse and lies from his brother's stupid friends. The black-haired boy was really having a hard time trying to control himself. Lucius wasn't being any help as he was just as enraged. Though he was able to keep himself from lashing out. The maturity level between the two of them was obviously different and was being shown here.

While the Gryffindors tried to continue making them angry, Regulus had had enough. He grunted loudly before tossing Iris to the side and raising his wand at his enemies. Lucius could do nothing but follow his lead now that Iris was out of his reach.

Spells were thrown back and forth once again. This time it was between the Slytherins and Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, and Wendy. The Marauders were really the ones trying to duel against them. Meanwhile, Lily and Wendy were trying to get themselves close enough to Iris where they could grab her and make sure that she was okay.

It all happened so fast. Regulus and Lucius fended off the three other students as best they could while the girls made their way towards Iris' prone figure. Eventually, Regulus noticed how close Wendy and Lily were and pointed his wand at them. He and Lucius were going to be beaten, obviously. Regulus was smart enough to realize that but stubborn enough to not want to admit defeat. Yet when he was just about to throw a spell at Lily, he found himself thrown forward as there was a shout to his side.

"Expeliarmus!" Iris sighed once she was sure that the threat of Regulus' wand pointed at Lily was dealt with. Though she wasn't expecting to find herself at the receiving end of a spell from Lucius instead.

"Stupify," and then the world went black for Iris Evans.

* * *

Sunlight poured through a window and hit the redhead who started to groggily wake up. Disoriented the teen started to sit upon the white bed she was in. She was covered by white blankets in a mildly uncomfortable bed. Her vision was slightly blurry and bright which caused her to squint at her surroundings. The space right behind her eyes throbbed and nearly caused her to grunt in pain. She may not be able to see properly, however, she was certainly able to feel the purring fur ball at her feet.

Shadow was curled up at the end of her bed, basking in the morning sunlight while he waited for his owner to wake up. Though once he felt Iris' feet move he stretched his long limbs and raised his head to look up at her. He meowed softly and trotted his way over to her lap and sat down on her to get comfortable. It was somewhat of a greeting but he appeared to be too tired to really do anything else.

Iris just chuckled and scratched her pet's head. She never realized how much she really missed petting Shadow's silky fur. It was comforting to have something as familiar as Shadow by her side. She truly needed this.

As she was indulging herself in Shadow's company, Madam Pomfrey scurried out of her office towards her patient. "Ah, you're up!" Iris jumped at the loud exclamation, "I have no doubt you've got a nasty headache, dear." The older woman said as she pulled out some vials out and placed them on the table next to Iris' bed.

"What happened?" Iris' hoarse voice asked which caused her to cough due to her dry throat. The gry-haired matron handed the teen a glass with a liquid in it.

The woman shook her head, "you had a terrible fall the other day. That Malfoy boy knocked you into a wall and I'm afraid you got a concussion."

Iris rubbed that back of her head to feel that there is a bump on her head. Just like the matron suggested, there was a swell on the back of her head that suggested she had hit her head quite hard. But how did it happen again? Madam Pomfrey mentioned Lucius...

Oh. _Oh!_

She remembers now!

Her blood began to boil once again as she recalled how Regulus and Lucius had manipulated her by using some sort of potion. She remembers the small duel that her friends had with them to try and help her. She also remembers that Lucius was the one to cause the horrible throbbing in her head. She scowled as Madam Pomfrey handed her a few vials to drink.

While the woman explained how each awful tasting potion would help her, Iris was glowering silently and lost in her own thoughts. Oh, she was certainly going to go after those idiotic gits and get her well deserved revenge against them. Though while she was currently scheming of a plan, the sparkly-eyed, white-haired headmaster entered the room.

The ancient man glided across the hospital wing floor and neared Iris' small bed. He chuckled lightly at the sulky expression she was sporting. His think lips were pulled into an amused smile at the gloomy look on her face as he already knew what she was thinking. Though he had to make sure he did not encourage any sort of retaliation she has for them. Even if he could understand why she would want to get payback.

"I'm glad to see that you're alright, Ms. Evans."

The redhead broke out of her thoughts with wide eyes as if she had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Seeing that it was just her headmaster, she smiled lightly. "Thanks, Headmaster." A thought struck her, "What about-"

"Everyone else is fine." The man said to the girl who now sighed in relief. "No one else was injured as badly as you were." Her shoulders slumped as she laid back further into her bed. He wasn't surprised to see that Iris Evans had gotten herself into trouble. Though he wouldn't have guessed that the teen would have fallen into something as serious as this. Hearing that Regulus Black and Lucius Malfoy were able to control her as if she was under the imperious curse was unsettling. The boys were both intelligent, brilliant boys. However, they excelled in something terrible, the dark arts. "However, I believe that your friends did hurt Mr. Black and Mr. Malfoy a little," Iris smirked at that. There was a small twinkle in his eyes as he looked over his half-mooned glasses at the teen. "I must advise you to not go after the two boys yourself."

It seemed that Dumbledore was able to pick up on her thoughts. And here she thought that she could easily hide her emotions. Guess she was wrong. She tried to appear innocent, "Why not?"

Dumbledore chuckled with a shake of his head as he stood next to her bed. "The both of them will be dealt with accordingly."

Iris just pursed her lips and looked away from the older man. "Knowing them, they'll get off easy." Have such prestigious _pure-blood_ families who have influence over everything must be nice. The Malfoys and Blacks will surely find a way to get the most lenient punishment for their sons. "No offense, headmaster, but I know how these things go." There are always those people in life who were dealt a far better hand than others. Either that or they were somehow able to cheat the game of life and make it better for themselves while also making it worse for others. It was far from fair. Though even though the muggle world was different from the wizarding one, there were a few similarities that Iris was able to notice, and this is one of them. "How long's it been?"

Dumbledore scratched behind Shadow's ear after the kitten had got up to approach the man. "Only a day. You needed to rest after what happened." Shadow purred loudly at the affection he was receiving from the old man. "Madame Pomfrey has been keeping a close eye on you."

Said woman nodded her head firmly while taking the now empty vials from Iris. "I'll have her up and healthy soon enough!"

"That's wonderful news," Dumbledore said with a wistful tone as his eyes gleamed. He patted Shadow one last time on the head before flashing Iris a smile from behind his long white beard. "I hope that you feel better, Iris."

There was something that Iris couldn't see in the man. He had this air of madness yet calmness about him that she wasn't able to make her mind up about. Though she was able to see a fellow mischief-maker like herself. Dumbledore may be able to hide it from most, but Iris could clearly see that Hogwart's headmaster could easily cause some trouble. She smirked at him, "Thank you, Headmaster."

The man nodded his head once more before walking towards the entrance. He walked out of the room with a flick of his beard and a spark in his eyes.

* * *

"So you only got detention?"

Sirius ran a hand through his hair with a smirk. He was currently sitting next to Iris' hospital bed as he retold her what had happened after she was knocked unconscious. He was not completely upset with the outcome of what had happened. After Iris had been knocked out by Lucius, a few professors had found them. They instantly started to break up the duel and pull all of the students away for questioning.

While Iris had been brought to Madam Pomfrey, they all were marched up to Dumbledore's office for punishment. Though the were more than happy to know that they were only going to get about a month's worth of detention. That wasn't a big deal for them. The girls were left with just warnings because the professors did not see Wendy or Lily using their wands. Marlene and Peter also did not get punished because they weren't there, obviously. Sirius, James, and Remus were the ones to get the detention.

Sirius couldn't say what had happened to Regulus or Lucius. They had been forced out of the headmaster's office after they had been given their punishment. As far as he knew, the only ones who knew what was

"Surprised?" He chuckled and leaned closer to her. "So were we. Honestly, I thought McGonagal was going to have a heart attack when she found us. Even more so when Dumbledore only gave us detention."

Iris' furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and frustration. "But how's that possible? Fighting like that should have gotten the lot of you expelled, no offense."

He nodded his head along with her, "I don't know. We were lucky, I guess."

"Well that's good," Iris smiled before it morphed into a wicked smirk, "you won't last a week without seeing me let alone the rest of the school year, darling."

She was correct in that assumption. If Sirius was to be expelled and he had to leave for the rest of the school year, he would probably go mad without being able to see her. And he certainly wouldn't be able to stand going to a completely different school than her. Now that Sirius has met this beautiful, cunning girl, he was not going to let her go even for a moment.

Sirius barked out a laugh, "I suppose you're right, love." He then dug through his pockets and delicately started to pull out a silver chain. Even though she kind of didn't want to admit it, Iris had gasped at the sight of the silver moon pendent that he presented her. She barely even noticed how she missed the soft weight of the moon-shaped necklace around her collarbone. Though now that she realized it was gone, she reached up to her neckline where it hadn't been for a couple of days. Sirius smiled at her when he noticed that it was missing. "I thought you'd miss this."

"My necklace!" She gently grabbed the jewelry from Sirius and marveled at it slightly. The present that the boy in front of her had given her for Christmas was a sight for sore eyes.

He gently smiled at the wide brown eyes of his lady-love. "I figured you'd miss this, I don't know why."

The two of them chuckled together, "well, of course, I would. It's one of the best gifts I've gotten."

There was a silent beat between the two teens. Their eyes met for what seemed to be a hundredth time and a spark seemed to ignite the intense flame burning between them. If it wasn't already burning, it certainly was flaming now. The situation that Iris had unfortunately been placed in could have done nothing but strengthen what was between the two of them.

Sirius certainly blamed himself for this happening to her. It was _his_ brother who had tried to hurt Iris, it was his carelessness that ultimately led to Regulus getting Iris, and it was his stupidity that kept them from finding out what happened sooner. Was his justification true? No. To any sound person, they would look at this situation and would find no blame to be put on Sirius. But with the boy being him, he could only find faults in himself that led to this situation.

Though there was no need to dwell on the "what ifs" about all of this or to place blame on anyone other than the snakes. No need to wonder what would have happened if Sirius had gone with her to find her scarf. Or what would have happened if Iris had gotten the help she needed before it all happened. All that they should do right now, is revel in the bliss that came with their victory against the snakes and Iris' safety. The past was the past and there was nothing that could be done to change it. All they could do was heal from this and become better. They would strengthen the relationship that had already formed over the year into something that certainly would become unbreakable.

"Now," Sirius started off slyly to draw them both out of their thoughts. He leaned closer to her and intimately invaded her space. Though it's not like she minded it that much. If anything, the girl welcomed his close proximity. Honestly, if he hadn't leaned closer to her, she would have pulled him down herself. "I think we've got some catching up to do."

Iris smirked, "Couldn't agree more."

The two were then latched at the lips as Iris pulled at Sirius' neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist. This was far overdue for both of them. They reveled in the feeling of each other pressed up against one another. It felt like it had been far too long since they had done that. In reality, it had only been a few days. However, even then, it was still too long for both of them.

Sirius loved the scent of vanilla that surrounded her even while she was in a hospital room that reeked of medical potions. He loved placing his hand on her soft cheek and rubbing his thumb lovingly across it. The teen tried to memorize every electrifying aspect of the girl that he had in his arms.

Iris did the same. She ran her hand through his long hair which effectively messed it up. The redhead enjoyed the heat he provided her and the comforting pressure he pushed on her lips. She could feel the security that he gave her and she never wanted to leave it again. The moment was perfect for her.

With their lips locked together and their bodies intertwined, they didn't even hear the hurried footsteps getting closer. They were far too distracted by each other that they failed to notice the bubbly voices growing closer. Though they weren't the ones to really be at fault. The world had melted around them and nothing mattered but the two of them. All that mattered to them was making sure that they reacquainted themselves with the other, and they certainly didn't want any interruptions.

A trio of girls then came bounding into the hospital wing. It was Lily and the other girls who had obviously come to check up on Iris. Though once they got into the room, their presence ultimately broke the couple apart. At the sight of Sirius leaned over the bed and the two teens with red cheeks and puffy lips, the girls could assume what had been happening. Lily smiled brightly at the display of affection. Seeing Iris happy was a heartwarming sight. She didn't care who was the source of her happiness but she appreciated seeing Iris' eyes bright and lively once again.

The trio had just arrived from lunch and was happy to have a free period for the next hour. It was a perfect time for them to check on Iris. They had tried to go see her earlier, however, McGonagall had made sure to keep them all busy with school work. They knew that somehow, Sirius had been able to escape class and get to Iris before them. The group had envied him slightly for that. However, they knew that the couple deserved some time alone. Though they wished that they hadn't walked in on them in the middle of kissing.

"Wasting no time, I see," Marlene commented as they waltzed over to the bed. "It's good to see that you're still able to kiss after everything that's happened."

The group of teens laughed together. Joy filtered through the air now that their happy reunion was in full swing. Wendy, Marlene, and Lily stood or sat around Iris' bed and couldn't stop the relieved smiles from stretching on their faces. They instantly started to joke around with each other while Lily nagged Iris about having to catch up on work. Leave it to Lily to focus on schoolwork even at a time like this.

_'Why can't she just let us have fun for a while?'_ Iris wondered to herself. However, there was no way that Iris was irritated with her sister. If anything, Iris was loving the fact that she could hear the normal tone in her sister's voice. It was far better than not being able to hear her voice.

They had shared hugs which resulted in Iris' ribs almost being cracked. Wendy and Marlene kept their hugs light. Surprisingly Marlene had restrained herself from hugging Iris harder than she had to. Though the same can't be said about Lily.

It almost seemed like the twin was trying to kill her! Iris swears that her ribs are bruised because of Lily.

Soon enough the other boys showed up to join the reunion. James had nearly pounced on Iris and attacked her with a tight hug. Of course, it was nowhere as tight as the ones she got from her sister or pseudo-grandmother, but they took her breath her way nonetheless.

Remus kept his hug soft and short. It was like he was afraid he'd accidentally break her somehow. The big softie believed that he had the capability of hurting her. Merlin. Despite what Remus may believe, there was no way that he was going to hurt her. She knows about his hairy little secret, and she was nowhere near being afraid of him. The big werewolf was in no way scary enough to frighten Iris Evans!

Peter had just meekly smiled at her and silently expressed his relief for her safety. Obviously, Peter is not a man of many words, and Iris understood his silence. She was just grateful that he was there and willing to say hello to her after she woke up.

They enjoyed each other's company and tried to forget everything. Their lives were starting to regain some of the normalcy that they had before all of these things happened. The group of them would allow their happy environment to consume them. The world around them disappeared as the group of friends only thought about each other. All that mattered then and now and forgetting about what had happened. For at least a short while, the Gryffindors could have this moment of bliss before they got back into the swing of school and having to deal with the aftermath of what had happened.

* * *

It was late in the night. The Gryffindors had bid Iris a goodnight while the boys had to pull Sirius away from his ladylove as he tried to stay the night with her. However, none of them wanted to deal with an angered Madam Pomfrey who would swiftly push them out of the hospital wing. Iris needed to get her rest after all.

Though while the corridors were lit up dimly by torches and ghosts floated around, a Slytherin boy crept around. He jumped from shadow to shadow and blended into them quite well. Someone would have quite a hard time locating him. However, if they looked close enough, they would be able to see his pale face that was covered in anxiety.

This boy with greasy hair and a gut full of nerves was making his way towards the hospital wing. At this point, the only patient who was in the room should be asleep. However, he knew Iris. She was probably staring at the ceiling worrying about something. The girl may be a heavy sleeper, however, it was hard for her to fall asleep in a foreign place. It may still be Hogwarts, but it wasn't her dorm where she knew it was safe.

He cursed himself. She most likely didn't feel safe, and that was his fault.

Severus Snape was the reason that his very good friend didn't feel safe anymore. He knew that she may not admit it out loud, but there was no way that Iris would truly be okay after this.

He scurried down the last winding hallway towards the hospital wing. Severus hesitated once he stood in front of the enormous double doors of the hospital wing. Why was he here again? Oh, right... He was going to try and talk with Iris.

The Slytherin knew that he'd never get to see Iris during the day. Her Gryffindor friends had surrounded her and created a barrier. He certainly couldn't get through them during the day. Honestly, he had only just found out that Iris was awake after he heard some other students talking about it.

Now, here he stood. In front of the hospital wing doors where his pseudo-sister laid in a hospital bed recovering from the horror that he had put her through. He should just turn around and march back to his dorm.

Iris didn't want to see him, he thought. She would probably never want to see him again! Severus had no idea whether or not she knew about his involvement, but he certainly knew that she would want to curse him no matter what. She knew that Severus, Regulus, and Lucius were "friends". Iris has every right to believe that he was in on it, and she would be right.

However, Severus was done being a coward.

He would tackle this problem head-on. He would man-up and apologize to Iris, whether she accepted it or not. It was her decision either way. If she wanted him to leave her alone for the rest of his life, he'd do it. He needed to make it up to her any way that he could.

With that thought in mind, he slipped through the large doors and made sure to make as little noise as he could. He cringed slightly when the ancient doors creaked slightly but continued into the room. The hospital wing was hauntingly dark. If Severus wasn't on a mission to see Iris, he would have grown scared at the darkness. But he restrained himself.

He quickly surveyed the room and found the redhead resting on a bed. As he had predicted, she wasn't asleep. Instead, she laid on her back, wide awake, staring up at the ceiling with a void expression. Iris couldn't sleep. Her mind was still plauged by what had happened only a day ago. She didn't want to sleep. What if something happened while she tried to sleep? What if Regulus or Lucius tried to get at her again? Then what? So many questioned zoomed through her mind and kept her from closing her eyes for more than four minutes.

Though she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard soft footsteps heading her way. Though the moment she caught sight of the boy who was scurrying his way towards her, she relaxed. She relaxed only a little bit. "Severus?"

"I-Iris." He squeaked and hesitantly approached her, "I-I-" He gulped nervously as Iris pinned him down with an inquisitive

"What do you want?"

"I- well, I wanted to-" He really couldn't find his voice at that moment. Iris just stared him down as he tried to construct a sentence. He bowed his head in an obvious sign of submission. He may have come into the room with the intention of not backing down like he always does. Yet here he is losing every ounce of confidence he had been able to scrape up before he walked in here.

"I heard what you did." She cut off his rambling before he could embarrass himself further. Iris stared at him with narrowed eyes and a harsh tone in her voice. Honestly, Iris didn't really want to see him. No matter what she was told, he was still a horrible person. Just as bad as Regulus and Lucius. But she'd entertain the idea of having some sort of closure for the two of them.

Severus' head snapped up to look at her in confusion. "Huh?"

"They told me everything," Severus gulped and was ready to receive a verbal and physical beating from her. Though she only sighed, "I know that you made that potion. But the boys told me that you explained to them what happened and the girls said you helped them make the cure."

He nodded his head slowly, "y-yes."

"I figure that they threatened you to do it. But I can't..." she paused before shaking her head. "I won't forgive you so easily. I don't care if they forced you to do it, I know you could have done something to stop this." She clicked her tongue and looked away from him. "For the sake of Lily, I will be civil."

Lily had spoken high of Severus when they were explaining. She did express her disgust with the fact that Severus had been apart of this whole thing. However, she also said that she was happy with how Severus turned against them and decided to help. She always tried to look for the best in people, Iris thought that was one of Lily's biggest faults. Severus may have changed his mind and stood up to the other boys. He may have not had ill intentions from the beginning because he was forced to take part in their scheme. But that still doesn't change the fact that he still did it.

She didn't forgive him.

It hurt. Knowing that the girl he saw as a sister distrusted him caused his body to freeze. Though it was understandable. He shouldn't have let his hopes be high when he arrived. The fact that Iris was even willing to talk to him was a gracious enough sentiment by her. She didn't turn him away. Iris had at least decided to hear him out about this, even if it was a few stuttered words.

He swallowed thickly, "I understand." Seeing as Iris had turned herself away from him, it was time for him to go. He meekly turned around and started to walk away from her bed. Severus spared one final glance back at the redhead who refused to look at him. "I'm sorry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Severus certainly can't fix any of this. I think we can all agree that we know what's coming in the next story. Even though I know what's to happen, I know I'm still going to be upset about it! There are certainly some questions that can be asked about what's going to happen and if everything is really okay now with the group of friends. However, we'll tackle that at a later date.
> 
> Well, last chapter over with. *sniff* I'm not crying, I swear. *sniff* I totally feel like I kind of rushed this ending. But hey, this is literally the first fanfiction I've written and finished so I'll work on my endings for future fanfics. I also wanted to have a rounded number of chapters and twenty seemed to be a good number. Pretty sure I'm just going to re-read this myself and go over like grammar errors and such. Seeing as I technically started writing this when I was fourteen, I'm pretty sure that the first few chapters are worse than the last few. So if you see some updates being made to this story, its really just me making small fixes and maybe adding some new sentences. The plot won't change, nothing drastic like that.
> 
> Overall, I'm really happy with the way that this story went.
> 
> I'm also super happy to see so many people actually liked this story. It's always fun to talk and entertain fellow Potterheads or fanfiction writers/readers. Your comments, kudos, and bookmarks have seriously warmed my heart.
> 
> Now, all that's left is the epilogue!
> 
> Also(bear with me here, I know this is a long A/N but this is the last thought, I swear) but I have a small announcement. I'm working on writing my own novel. I'm hoping to have it done and published on Amazon in April! What do you guys think about that?


	21. Epilogue

**THE REST OF THE YEAR WAS UNEVENTFUL** when compared to the trouble that Iris had gotten herself into earlier. There were no more threats made upon her or people stalking her or watching her every move. Well… Except for Sirius. That boy had not let Iris out of his sight for even fifteen minutes at a time.

The protective aura that surrounded him whenever he was around Iris and he made sure to keep at least one arm around her at all times. Whenever she _did_ end up having to go somewhere without him or he had to go somewhere she couldn't, he made sure that she was safe with a friend. It was obvious that he wanted to avoid a repeat of what happened this year. 

Of course, because he was always with her, and she was always with him... their relationship had obviously blossomed even more. Dates were a common occurrence for the two of them on the weekends and even on weekdays. Pleasant walks along the Black Lake or a trip to Hogsmeade were always enjoyable for the two of them. They may have not said anything officially, but it was obvious to everyone that they were a thing. There was no need for them to publicly go to their friends or acquaintances and say that they were dating. Besides, neither of them liked having labels like '_boyfriend and girlfriend'._

The school year was over now, however. Students rejoiced in that fact they wouldn't have to stress over McGonagall rigorous exams or sit through Binns boring lectures. It was summertime now!

Currently, Iris was packing up her trunk along with her best friends in their dorm. They shared laughs and jokes with each other as the tense atmosphere that came with the school year melted away. Nearly three whole months of blissful laziness. That was certainly something that Iris was looking forward to.

They trotted down the stairs and into the common room where many other students were finishing up getting their things ready. The journey home was going to be bittersweet. The seven years had graduated and wouldn't be coming back next year which put a damper mood on some people, like Iris.

Iris has a few friends who are seven years and would miss them quite a bit but she was more than happy to see this year over with. Being the new girl was fun and all, but being the plaything of a pair of Slytherin boys was not an ideal situation. The end of her year made up for the things that Regulus and Lucius had done to her. Her friends made sure to keep her in high spirits, which worked. 

Lucius was graduating which meant that Iris would never have to see that boy ever again. Thank Merlin for that. Regulus was another case. He was younger than them and won't be leaving the school. Despite what they had done, they were only let off with light punishments. There was no doubt that their parents pulled a few strings and got them easy ways out. Though Iris wouldn't let that bring down her mood. Three months with no Slytherins to deal with is a blessing. It was unfair to see such vile people get away without any sort of consequences yet that's the world nowadays. Iris wished it wasn't that way, but it's not like she could do much.

The platform was bustling with students getting onto the train and saying goodbye to each other before they headed home. As the girls climbed out of their self pulling carriage, they were greeted by the Marauders who had headed down to the train before them.

"Ladies," Sirius said as he walked over to Iris and slung his arm around her, "excited to be going home?"

Iris chuckled, "is that even a question?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I guess I shouldn't have asked. Now, shall we?"

The group of friends headed onto the train and got into their compartments. Despite everything, Lily still did not want to share a compartment with James Potter. Yes, their relationship was better and included a decrease in Lily calling him names and such. However, she still wanted to keep her distance for the most part. Of course, Iris has her own hypothesis on why, but she'll keep that to herself at the moment. Lest things spiral into chaos because she insinuated something that Lily would outright deny.

The train ride was normal and fun. Iris sat with the boys for the most part and was tucked under Sirius' arm most of the time. They joked and laughed and had a phenomenal time. It didn't really feel like Iris was going away from them. It was only for a short time, but it was insignificant. She'd see them soon, that was for sure.

Iris found herself in the girls' compartment as the train came to a slow stop at platform 9 3/4. Students poured out of the red express and grabbed their belongings. They were reunited with their families before bidding their friends one last goodbye and heading home.

The first of their group to leave was Peter who squeaked out a goodbye to them and scurried to his parents. Wendy was next to go when her father appeared and introduced himself to their friend group before leaving. After they left, Marlene was able to find her family and gave them all tight hugs before going. Remus' parents showed up and swept him away. James bid his fare Lily a warm goodbye that earned him a light scowl. Iris gave him a hug before he sauntered off. Sirius was last to leave. He really didn't want to, however.

"I'll visit you," he promised Iris.

Iris smiled brightly at him and tugged him down for a quick peck on the lips. "I look forward to it, darling."

He smirked and started to walk away from her, "bye, love."

Soon enough the Evans showed up and came to pick up the twins. They grabbed their trunks and walked away from the train. Craig and Evans gave Iris and Lily tight hugs which took their breaths away. Of course, Petunia wasn't with them which Iris was pretty okay with.

They headed off the platform and towards the muggle world to actually head home. They made idle chat while loading their trunks into their car and getting in it.

"How was your year, girls?" Craig asked as he pulled the car away from the curb to head home.

Iris and Lily shared a look in the back seats that displayed that they had the same thoughts. There was no way that they were going to tell their parents about what had happened. There was no doubt in their minds that their parents would try to pull Iris out of Hogwarts after finding out what happened to her. Obviously the letter about what had happened hadn't gotten to them yet, which seems impossible yet slightly understandable.

The conclusion of the "case" that had been brought up against the boys had been finalized only recently. Really only a few weeks ago. So a letter explaining everything would most likely end up being sent to them in a few days. Even though it was bad, the girls were _not_ going to tell their parents. They would certainly try to hide that letter from their parents. It was an understandable fear for the girls because they don't want to be separated again. Their parents would, no doubt, pull both of them out of that school for this. Even if there was another school for them to go to or not. 

"Our year?" Lily asked and shared one final glance with Iris.

The short-haired girl just nodded her head, "it was good. Really interesting."

Yeah, the year certainly was interesting. Though she could only hope that the next few years at school would be normal. Well, as normal as a wizarding school can be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, goodness. Well, here we are, the end of Foxy! Honestly, this story is the first that I've actually ever finished writing. I loved doing it and I love hearing your feedback on it. I never thought that so many people would actually enjoy it. Either way, I appreciate every comment on it and the feedback. I appreciate every one of you so much!
> 
> Though if you're upset that it's over, don't worry, this isn't the last of Iris Evans and her friends. By far. She'll be back for more pranks and shenanigans with the Marauders. Plus she has to get through the dreaded N.E.W.T.s soon, oh joy.
> 
> She'll definitely be back.
> 
> Iris' adventures will continue in 'Ups and Downs'.
> 
> However, until then, I'm thinking of starting up a new series, since I have to work on a sequel for this one. Tell me what fandom or such that you think would be a good idea for me to write about. I'm already working on a Marvel/Captain America fanfiction(An Uncertain Future), Detroit: Become Human fanfiction(Abomination), and an Umbrella Academy fanfiction(Supersonic). I'm thinking of posting a Stranger Things fanfiction or Star Wars, but I'll leave it up to you guys. Just tell me some suggestions! Until we reunite my lovely readers! 


End file.
